A Dragon's Boon
by Galdr
Summary: [FE10xBOFIII] The Dawn Brigade; a band of friends who chose to fight for Daein after its fall three years ago. Through their struggles, a young man in Begnion armor, with no memory of his past life, invites himself to help them regain Daein's freedom of Begnion's chains. Will it be enough? Follows the game with a twist. Contains a little spoilers. Please read and review! Thank-you!
1. Under Gray Skies

Hiya everybody, watchers, followers, viewers and all. After being inspired by the fanfictions, _Love Thine Enemy_ by slivershell and _Memories_ by Yautjan, I decided to take on another fanfiction story after a good three to five days of plotting time and writing, of course. Both aforementioned stories are presumably Fire Emblem and Legend of Zelda crossovers, but both are extremely great. This particular story is in an untouched crossover of the Fire Emblem crossover archives; Breath of Fire. A very underrated series that deserves some credit. To those of you Fire Emblem fans, this story is going to take place in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. To those of you Breath of Fire fans, I am using Breath of Fire III's version of Ryu.

In a nutshell, I advise you all to use the magic of Google should you want to understand either games, as I don't want to munch up the story with hours full of explanations. I will be going by the game, and will make very slight modifications. If you FE fans that know absolutely nothing of this version of Ryu, I also advise reading Estrelita Farr's _Breath of Fire III: Of Gods and Dragons._ It's a complete novelization of the entire game. So, if you don't want to go read about the game on Wiki or other sources, that's your next best stop. For you BoF fans that know nothing of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, you can go to SerenesForest to find out more. I'll try my best not to spoiler things in this, but I can't promise completely. I will only be doing the Dawn Brigade of RD since that's only 11 "stages", which means 11 chapters for me. Good thing, too. I don't like writing long stories for some reason. XD

Last notes, Ryu will only assume three of his dragon forms and some can probably guess which ones and I'll try not to make him OP. Reviews, faves, follows, and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be abolished.

So with all that said, enjoy the story. Sorry for the wall-of-unnecessary-author's-note-text!

* * *

**Part I:** Silver-Haired Maiden; The Dragon Prince

**Chapter I:** _Under Gray Skies_

* * *

In the land of Daein there was a dead space, occupied by, decrepit buildings that once stood years ago. Ever since the Mad King's War three years prior, Daein's lands have not been peaceful since; the once proud buildings were beyond recognition and repair. The Crimean army had stormed this place those years ago, defeating the Daeins, and then walked all over them, leaving the country into the hands of Begnion. The people that lived in the nation were without help, and the buildings that were once inhabited by those people, were starved for repair. However, its inanimate thirst was never quenched.

The ruins of the battlefield lay in waste.

In these same, ruined areas, the moon was lit full, shining upon the wreckage with its alluring, white light. Stars packed around the moon as if they were ants marching around a picnic basket full of food. They, too, also illuminated the dark night, painting across canvas of the sky. There were still a few trees and some molded grassland amidst the rubble of destruction, however, it was hard to notice and very little remained. Storms of footsteps marched the area, torches lighting the way as soldiers in burnt orange armor hurried around the place as if they owned it. It appears they were searching for something, or some_one_.

"Find anything?" One soldier asked his cohort, who shook his head in light disappointment.

"Not yet, sir, no." the other replied.

"Someone's gotta be here. Keep looking!"

"Yes sir!"

The two soldiers begin to turn away, their torches close, their weapons closer, and their eyes peeled open. Nearby, someone was hiding behind a broken wall, which was fortunately tall enough to hide them completely from view of the lighted torches. The person peered through a small crack in the wall, the dull, golden color of their eyes barely visible. They were trying to keep quiet as much as possible. However, one turns around, and the person moves from the crack quickly, causing a faint gasp to escape their lips. Uh-oh!

"We're wasting our time. There's no one here."" the second soldier half groaned in complaint.

"No. I know I heard _something_..." The first red-clad soldier examined, his eyes roving over the area he could see physically, almost approaching the wall the hidden person was hiding behind.

The quiet person from before was actually a female with fair skin, brilliantly colored silver hair, gold eyes, and looked like a young girl in her teens. She wore a maroon colored tunic with an intricate design on the bottom of the tunic skirt's short, front flap; the rest of her tunic's length extended behind her body. Her shoulders were bare, exposed to the airy draft the night could offer. Her legs were covered with long, black skin tight pants for women, her arms, sans her shoulders, were covered in long, black half gloves that ended to her skinny, feminine fingers. Around the beginning of the arm-length gloves, were French cuffs, folded and tied together with a thin, red string on both sides; however on her right hand, were two, thin gold circlets around her wrist, and upon the left, were more of those strings. Around her waist was a thin, brown belt with a golden buckle, meant to keep the tunic tightly snuggled to her petite, feminine frame. The belt had a few pouches connected to it which contained precious, traveling items.

Around her legs were more of the thin, red strings, tied neatly in tiny bows, and wrapped around her golden boots that she wore. Lastly, around her neck draped a navy blue scarf, long enough to reach past her rear, and a matching blue ribbon tied into her silvery locks, visible from behind only. She was carrying a light yellow book with her, and a small, orange canary-like bird was with her. It seemed quite terrified at first, chirping very quietly.

"Hush, Yune. Don't cry, please. If they hear you, you'll give us both away..." the girl soothes the small avian with her kind, reassuring voice as much as possible, cupping the bird comfortably tight in her hands and close to her chest.

Unfortunately, the silver-haired girl's words did not lend much reassurance to the tweeting bird; in its fear, it flew off, causing the girl to gasp. This stirred the soldiers, their awareness sharply increased. "Who's there!?" the first soldier calls out, and then notices the orange canary flying out in panic. When it was gone, the soldier peered into the crack, the girl freezing on the spot and away from it to avoid detection.

"Is it the Dawn Brigade?" the second asked.

"No. It was just a bird..." his cohort replied. The two exchanges glances silently, the responding soldier waving the other to go around the other end of the wall. They knew someone was hiding behind the wall and were going to plan a surprise attack to catch the culprit off guard.

Feeling that nobody was around, or they simply ignored her presence, the girl sighs in relief. However, the brief moment by her lonesome was soon cut off abruptly by someone snatching her from behind! A soldier rudely grabs her by her arm, the girl cried out in utter surprise by the man's force, bringing both of her arms back and bound with his tight grip after twisting them tight. In the confusion, the silver-haired young woman drops her tome. ""Ha-ha-ha! You thought we didn't see you, huh?"" The soldier laughs deviously. The girl attempts to struggle faintly, proving useless as the man keeps her bound. If that wasn't good enough, more red-clad soldiers enter the small area, about four more, holding torches towards the girl to get a better look at her features.

Another grabs her chin, causing her to wince and flinch back lightly. "Look at that... Silver hair..." The one grasping the girl's body states, running his hand through her long, thin hair.

"If she's the fortune-teller everyone's been talking about, we'll be the talk of the town. Us, heroes! Heh, without her, the Dawn Brigade is nothing!" The commanding soldier that had previously spoken stated, grinning proudly. The girl attempts to struggle again, and as before, it proved pointless. "Oh, the general's going to love this. Bind her!"

"Sir!" the other soldiers under command state, beginning to use rope to truss up the girl's wrists.

"Listen up, lass. If you don't want to get hurt, don't struggle." The commanding officer tells her. It wasn't long until the group hears a familiar chirping of a bird; all of them look up, the girl included, as the bird flies high into the dark night. An immediate sound of _clank!_ of steel meeting weaponry rang out as a soldier gutted out a groan before collapsing instantly. In the confusion of the soldiers' gasping, the girl escapes under it, grabbing her tome she dropped not long ago.

"She's not alone!" The commanding soldier of the group shouts aloud.

Many of the soldiers were falling, one by one, as a young teenager, just in his building man years, appeared from literally nowhere to them—which in fact he hadn't—knocking down the soldiers that had assailed the young girl earlier, with his powerful kicks and stabs with his stiletto-like knife. One soldier attempted to stab him with his lance, but failed as the youth dodged with a skilled back-flip. Many after him also tried thrusting their lances and swords, only to be countered with a swift stabbing to their necks by his dagger. This young male had short, green hair, almost the color of the forest, having solid, gold, soul-piercing eyes, and stood around six feet in height. His skin complexion was paler than the girl's, but he was muscular built for a teen his age, his arms, exposed abdomen, and legs expressed this.

He wore a half shirt the color of an olive green, sleeveless, and stopped just above his stomach line. Running down the center of the top were criss-cross laces of brown that kept it together. It also appeared that protective padding for added protection was threaded into the clothing. His pants were slightly baggy, though still hung close to his young, masculine, teenaged body. They were a beige color, and around his waist was a black colored belt, having two pouches attached to it, a dagger's sheath and a protective pad of armor belted around his left leg's front thigh. The dagger's sheath was red colored, contrasting the youth's attire. His brown colored boots were belt buckled three times on either boot, having gold colored buckles, keeping the rest of his legs secure and safe. Lastly, he wore ragged, padded black, chainmail gloves on both arms, which only reached towards his elbows at most. He also had a tattered beige-olive colored scarf around his neck, making him look like either a ruffian or a thief. It was, more or less, probably the latter.

Once the surrounding soldiers were dispatched of, the two teens stood back to back while a standing soldier blows on a long horn to alert the others patrolling the area of the ongoing disaster unfolding. Others were flooding in like water, armed and ready to attack.

"Micaiah..." the green haired teen spoke softly, calling to the girl's name.

"Sothe..." Micaiah, as she was called, named the green-haired teen's own.

"We got you now!" the commanding soldier bellowed as they neared the pair.

Regardless of the situation, Micaiah opens the tome she was carrying, and begins to chant whispers of magical essence. Sothe covered his eyes with his scarf as his partner raised her hand, releasing a volley of words that deemed ancient, "Ekarif magae teiodasto ieraka!" Once chanting this, a light emitted from her hand, blinding the soldiers with its magnificent brilliance.

"Augh!"

"My eyes!"

"I can't see!"

The soldiers bellow, dropping their weapons simultaneously as they cringed. As the light was beginning to fade and clear out, Sothe opened his own eyes, checking around quickly before nodding to his companion. "Good job, Micaiah. Let's go." He insisted hurriedly, now taking off with her behind him.

"Right. Yune!" Micaiah calls to the orange canary, which tweets almost innocently, flying after them. The two friends quickly dash into the night, disappearing into the thickets of the woods, leaving those soldiers―those Begnion soldiers―behind them.

However, in the fair distance, a pair of blue eyes, underneath a helmet, had been closely watching this act of escape…

* * *

**Nevassa, Daein.  
A few days after the incident...**

In the capital of Daein, Nevassa, the morning sky is filled with gray clouds around the early sun, blocking out its light. The town was dingy looking, almost dead in appearance. It looked beyond poverty and without inhabitants. The streets were paved with damaged, wrecked roadways; houses were standing compared to the area from a few days ago. A few citizens that lived in the capital were outside, talking to other commoners around, trying to maintain what shred of peace they could grab. A few cows and horses were out, being tended to by working men, and women were sweeping porches. Today felt like many other; it seemed to have carried itself slowly.

Every passing minute feeling like someone put the clock in slow motion. In one particular area of Nevassa, a pair of teens was on a staircase, sitting down, waiting patiently for something. Instead of how normal kids dressed, these two were particularly dressed for battle; one was a boy with short, untamed, blond-brown locks seemingly swept in place and frozen there. He was wearing a red, sleeveless tunic, strapped tight with a light brown leather belt around his thin, youthful frame. Underneath, he wore a light, faded yellow shirt with short sleeves, his arms and elbows exposed, and matching half-arm length gloves—his right glove having brown, leather straps crossing over one another to keep an extra padding against his hand, which was common amongst novice swordsmanship. His pants were a beige color that fit his legs, and lastly, boots that were brown, coated with a light yellow covering and orange flaps folded over the top edges of the boots. His eyes were large, but expected for a boy his age, and lacked physical build. An iron sword was equipped around his waist, feeling loose in case he needed it quickly, and lacked a shield to protect it.

Next to him was Micaiah, the girl from days before that had escaped with Sothe.

"I wonder where he is..." the brunet began, tapping his foot almost impatiently, frowning even. "Something must have happened to him."

Micaiah denied this, simply shaking her head and said, "Don't worry, he'll be here." She quietly petted the orange canary on her shoulder, Yune, atop her head. Her companion pouted lightly, sighing under his breath. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, and beamed instantly while turning to the silver-haired girl. "Hey, I have an idea." He started, "Micaiah, why don't you use your far-sight to see when Leonardo will arrive?" The girl stopped petting Yune, frowning at the idea her friend just offered, ridiculously.

"Oh Edward, you know that's not how it works. I foresee _some_ things, but I don't get to choose what I see."

"I know, I know! I was just teasing!" the brunet, now called Edward, said with a light snicker. "But still, Leonardo's _never_ late. Something must have―"

"H-Help!" An urgent voice called out abruptly. "Someone, please help us!" Micaiah and Edward exchanged worried looks, then stood immediately from their current spots, ushering themselves down the steps to find the owner of the shout. Running into view was a woman, around her mid-thirties, holding a boy's hand tightly in her large ones. From the looks of it, the woman was burly, big-boned, and dressed commonly in a simple dress, shoes, and a scarf over her brown hair. Her large nose gave way that she appeared to be a nanny of sorts as well. The boy with her was very young, about six or seven years old, with messy, dark chocolate brown locks, matching eyes, fair skin, and wore a large, teal green shirt, brown shorts and sandals upon his feet. He looked worried, just as much as the woman holding his hand. Micaiah and Edward quickly rushed towards them, concerned for their safety.

"What happened? What's the yelling for?" the brunet wondered.

"Bandits! Bandits are attacking the town!" the woman exclaimed, out of breath, but managed to get her message out anyhow. "R-run! You kids better run away! Who knows what those brutes will do if they catch you!" The lady's words were rushed; the two appeared to have run a distance to escape the tyranny of the pillaging bandits.

"Where is the Imperial Occupation Army this time? How can they keep the peace when they're nowhere to be found?" Micaiah also wondered, frowning even lower than when Edward cracked his joke earlier. Upon hearing this, the Daein woman recovered much of her lost breath, shooting a hateful glance at Micaiah, though only at her words about the "army" coming to their aid.

"Hmph, who? The Begnion Soldiers!? Hah! They don't care a lick about us! We lost the war, and they won. We're nothing to them!" She scorned in distaste. "They're only interested in chasing down the Dawn Brigade. They let the real scoundrels run wild and brutalize us."

Sensing the woman's emotions, and by the look of her face, the two friends couldn't possibly turn this down. Besides, what she said was the truth; Begnion didn't care about the Daein citizens' well-being. They ignored plight after plight, letting robberies and crimes run rampant while they sit on their rears and do absolutely nothing about it. Micaiah sighed half irritably. "They're worse than useless!" She exclaimed, and then looked the woman in the eyes proudly. "We'll be glad to help you. Just find someplace to hide and leave those bandits to us."

"Oh, but you're..." the lady began objecting; however Edward pitched in next, grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't worry about us. We happen to be members of the same Dawn Brigade those Begnion troops are so interested in!"

"What?! Really!? You guys are in the Dawn Brigade?" the boy with them exclaimed, his eyes sparkling, almost. He stared at Micaiah and Edward, beaming with absolute joy. "Wow! My friends and I talk about you all the time!" Micaiah simply smiled gently at the comment, while Edward was feeling proud of himself. Apparently, if kids were gossiping about them, then they were quite popular around Nevassa. While gaining popularity with Daein's city folk weren't top priority, it was still reassuring to hear that the citizens knew about them and their true nature.

"You? But you're just children!" the woman said aloud in shock. "Oh, how Daein has fallen... Children forced to fight and steal for the good of the poor." She sighed, relenting to the situation. These kids looked prepared and more skilled than she could ever hope to be. Perhaps it was best to let the fight belong to them. It was savagely, but it couldn't be helped. This was extreme measures. "But... we can't those rogues, so we'll take you up on that offer. Please, be careful. They'll slice clean through you if they can."

"We will be. Thank you." Micaiah assured her.

"Now hurry and go hide and leave this to us!" Edward added.

The woman and boy nod, hurrying off, going up the previous stairway the two Dawn Brigade members had once sat upon. Once they were out of sight, a few bandits, packed with bags across their backs, were storming the area. Edward and Micaiah quickly took shelter behind a convenient, loaded crate filled with boxes, hiding until their opportunity came along. The bandits were ugly looking, having dark hair that appeared braided, a dirtied, grey headband, gorilla-looking bodies, long arms and hands gripping axes made of iron. Their breath stank and their bods emitted a horrid stench that Edward complained he could smell if he were a mile away. They had baggy, brown pants on, damaged sandals, and barely any scrap of armor on their masculine bodies to protect them from harm should they encounter a scuffle.

The leader of their merry band was a man as tall as six feet, being a little overweight but it was hardly noticeable. He had wild, short, creamy blond hair, a scrunched in look that seemed as if he were punched in the face twice and it stuck. His eyes were narrow, the pupils colored in blue. He wore a man-sized battle tunic, the color of brown, with shoulder plates of iron armor kept upon said shoulders, strapped around his chest and back, as well as his back. His beefed up arms were dressed in long gloves, padded with a brown, leather covering meant to protect his arms. His pants were also baggy like his cohorts, though they were steel grey colored than brown. He, too, shared sandals like them as well as an iron axe. With a gruff, smug grin, he looked over the area greedily. "Listen up, you louts!" the man shouted to the others, "This town's nothin' but idiot kids and drooling graybeards. Steal everything you can!"

"Heh-heh, yeah!" one grunted ignorantly.

"You said it, Pugo, boss!" another laughed.

"This'll be a cinch." the last bandit chanted hoggishly.

Micaiah and Edward stayed low in their position, listening as the bandits scuffled about unwelcomed, taking things that didn't belong to them. This fueled their anger, and the two decided to emerge from their hiding and attack. "Yune, it's dangerous here. Go find someplace safe for now." The silver-haired magic user instructed. The bird chirped, taking off in a random direction.

"Micaiah, remember. You let me take care of the close quarters and you just attack from afar." The brunet swordsman lectured lightly, which his silver-haired companion simply nodded.

"I remember, Edward. Let's go!" After their small dialogue, the teens encounter the first brigand, who had been stuffing his face with fresh produce that were in the nearest crate. He had opened it with his axe, greedily eating everything his mouth could fit. "Hey! That's being selfish, you know!" The myrmidon tsked, frowning. "If you eat like that, you'll get fat!" The bandit being insulted growled angrily, dropping whatever he was going to eat, grabbed his axe and rushed the two teens. The ruffian leered at Edward, but gaped when he laid his lustful eyes on Micaiah. Now that was something worth stealing!

"Heh-heh-heh! A pretty girl like you'll fetch a pretty penny for me! Now be a good girl and come to papa." the ugly glutton snickered, making Edward sick to the stomach and Micaiah wanting nothing to do with his comments. She closed her eyes, beginning to chant something in an ancient tongue, similar to how she handled the Begnion soldiers a few days ago. The bandit, having no idea what she was mumbling, gave her an odd glance that read confusion easily. "What did you say? That better not have been an insult, you...!" Soon, light emanated from the girl's fingertips, shining brightly as she had opened her Light Tome, summoning a flash of light that both struck and blinded the brute.

"Huh? AUGH!" he cringed, covering his eyes.

"Edward, now!"

"Right on it!" The myrmidon called out, lunging forward, unleashing his iron sword beside him as he ran forward towards the glutton. It took three slashes at the bandit to fell him, and he landed with a loud thud sound that would for sure alert his cohorts. Oh well. "No matter the manner of man, the goddess judges with an even hand..." Micaiah silently said as the ruffian fell to his death, sighing. Edward twirled his sword in his hand almost expertly, laughing lightly.

"I bet if Sothe heard him speak to you like that, he would have murdered him twenty times."

"Oh, Edward!"

"Hey, I'm just telling the truth."

The girl sighed, brushing strands of her hair back. Trying to hold a conversation with the sword fighter was pointless now. "We shouldn't dawdle and chat our lives away. There's still a few more bandits lingering around, and I'm sure they noticed the grunt from before. So, be on your guard." Edward chuckled again, though decided to drop the subject, rekindling his focus on ridding of the invading brigands. If it weren't for them, he would have teased Micaiah all day until they got home. ""You have a point. Hm, here comes another, Micaiah, right on schedule!" The second and third bandits emerged from around the stack of crates, growling as they spotted their fallen ally and then the two kids who were possibly reliable for his death.

"You kids gone and dun it now!" One spat.

"C'mere and git yours!"

"Hah! Just try it!" Edward taunted, cheerfully rushing into the fray to meet them head on while Micaiah stayed back a bit. Casting magic from a distance was her job while the myrmidon fought closely. It was a great strategy, but it could only go so far. The brunet youth met the burly men armed with axes, taking chances and turns against them with the swiftness of his blade. He was still inexperienced, but he didn't miss a beat with his footwork. With shouts of "haaah!" and "yaaah!" going about, as well as _clinks!_, _clanks!_ and _changs!_ noises sparked as clashes of steel met head on, the fight was growing intense!

The last clash with bandit number three caused Edward to stumble backwards off balance, and the second bandit was coming for him! "Take this, brat!" He lunged, swinging his axe in downward motion to either amputate Edward's arm or decapitate him. Either way, fresh victories from a boy's murderous cries were delightfully delicious to hear amongst cutthroat brutes such as them. Micaiah summoned another light spell to block the third, but watched in horror as the third was about to strike Edward! "Oh-no! Ed―!" That's all Micaiah could utter. Sailing past her was a sharp, pointed object, which pierced into the third bandit's eye, stunning him into shock and pain.

"Guuhhaaawwwh! MY EYE! MY EYE!" the burly man groaned. Edward and Micaiah stared wondrously at him, but soon caught onto the object that struck him; an arrow! Only one person they knew could have done this!

"Micaiah! Edward! Are you two all right?" shouted another, young boy's voice. The sword and magic users turned simultaneously to notice a blond haired teen was approaching them. This kid was around Edward's height and age, wearing a fancy-looking steel blue tunic with sleeves that covered his arms, stopping around his thighs, and a natural slit running down the center. Strapped to his chest and back were darker blue padding for protection; underneath his tunic was an equally colored shirt that covered majority of his neck that was visible. Across the shoulder blades of his tunic were two, blue belts tied around to keep his quiver of arrows tightly secured in place. Around his waist were two more buckle belts, nearly the color of his hair. He had another strap, the color of red, tied around, locking a small pouch meant for keeping small items like vulneraries on him. The pants he wore were a light cream color, hugging his legs much like Edward's and not as much as Micaiah's. His attire was complete with his navy blue boots, styled with intricate designs, his blue eyes matching these, and his iron-padded gloves that gave his hands and fingers protection when handling his trusty bow, also made of iron.

"Leonardo!" both chimed together, smiling.

"How did you find us?" Micaiah asked rather quickly.

"A little bird told me," The blond haired archer replied, also smiling. "Yours, in fact." At this, Yune chirped, flying around before flying away. It was as if she went to find Leonardo and warn him of danger. She was such a talented bird, it made the silver-haired girl feel proud to have been her friend. When she was gone, Leonardo turned to his friends, now frowning slightly. "What were you two thinking, taking on these bandits by yourselves? That's beyond reckless." He added, lecturing almost.

"I'm sorry, Leonardo," Micaiah apologized, "But we couldn't just leave the helpless villagers to these monsters. Please, help us fight them."

"Oh, I see now. Of course I'll fight with you. That's what friends are for." The archer responds, taking his bow gladly.

"Great! Now with the three of us, we'll be unstoppable!" Edward projected aloud, causing his two companions to sigh lightly. But, he had a point, regardless of how ridiculous or outlandish it sounded. Once they stopped chatting, the third bandit had fallen dead, having lost too much blood, and his cohort was unable to help him. Good riddance. "Hey you brats! You'll pay for that!" He bellowed, beginning to charge wildly. The trio of the Dawn Brigade quickly ran off to the side, evading his rampant attack.

"Hm? What the―!"" the brute wondered, turning around to find the three ganging up on him to attack! Micaiah read through her tome again, summoning another round of light to attack and blind him. The nuisance hollered in pain, allowing Leonardo and Edward to finish him. The blond archer drew an arrow from his quiver, took precise aim, and let it sail through the air, hitting the dirty man in his knee. A groan later and Edward slashed him in an X-shape across his chest, the monster falling flat to his face as he bled to death. "Whew, that's just three of them. Two more to go, and then we'll win!" The myrmidon panted, feeling excited.

"Watch yourself, Edward. Don't get too cocky or it'll hurt you one day." Leonardo warned.

"Ah, don't worry, Leo. I'm just fine! Besides, we should be celebrating. We have the bandits' boss and that last one to handle, apparently. And boy, he's surely ugly." The brunet pointed his friend towards Pugo, who was busily grabbing things and shoving them into his make-shift sack. The last bandit had been stashing things into his own sack, humming some random tune to himself. Leonardo made a simple "ew" face, cringing at the sight; that guy was a horrible mess! No wonder Micaiah called them monsters. They probably hadn't bathed in months. How disgusting. "Ugh." The blond muttered.

"That's what I said..."

"Come on you two. We have to stop them before he tries to get away or find us." Micaiah urged, now hurrying towards Pugo, but keeping herself hidden for another surprise attack. The two boys followed suit, hiding around another set of crates adjacent to her as she hid behind a barrel wagon. Watching them, from above on balcony at a distance, was a soldier of Begnion. He was wearing simple red armor; a breastplate, helmet, arm pads, shoulder pads, leg pads and footwear as protection. He was unlike most of the Begnion dogs, however. His body had more of a young, but older masculine build, medium-toned, and it was evident by his arms only. Underneath the helmet that was visible was his fair skin, a few strands of hair that were unnaturally blue in color, and soulless, blue eyes staring down. At his side, was a sword sheathed in place. Instead of shouting to the group that claimed to be the Dawn Brigade, he simply watched the teens finishing off the bandits, curiously, cautiously, and just because he was interested in how the outcome would turn out.

"You idiots better be gettin' stuff! 'Cause when I get done, ya'll better be done, too!" the loud mouth idiot ratted.

"Okay, so how we'll we go about this? Attacking them both at the same time is a bad idea." Leonardo began quietly.

"I'm not too sure…"

"Hmm, you know. I can probably distract that Pugo guy while you two take down that last bandit." Edward suggested. His two friends glanced at him oddly, wondering where this "brilliant" idea came from.

"Edward, that's a stupid and suicidal idea. We should all team up and take them down one by one." The archer protested, half glaring at his companion's rather cheerful demeanor at such a time like this. "You could get killed!"

"Yeah, but I have a sword, and he's using an axe… From this standpoint, I have an advantage, don't I? Besides, I'm faster. He won't even touch me!"

"Oh Edward…" Micaiah sighed, also in disagreement.

"Come on! I'll be distracting him, not fighting him until you two are finished with the other one."

It took a moment for the other two to ponder on the idea. They didn't like it; separating just to fight these bandits. Of course, Edward had pointed out two facts, one being he had a weapon advantage on the leader. This silence carried on until someone nearby said, "This should be enough." The teens perk up, slowly peeking from their hiding spot to find the last bandit in the group to be closing up his sack! Uh-oh! While they were chattering away, the burly man had been stuffing himself with loot. "Come on, you two!" Edward half begged. "This is serious! If he gets away, then—!"

"We won't let him." Leonardo interrupted, turning to the silver-haired girl. "Right, Micaiah?"

"That's right. Edward… Please promise you will only distract the leader for us to finish the last of the bandit's group."

The brunet's face changed from a frown to an excited, though silent, cheer. "I will!"

"…Good. Then, on the count of three… One… Two… Three! Go!" Micaiah shouted.

The three jetted out of their hiding places, the light mage and archer teaming up against the bandit, surprising him, while Edward headed for the leader, Pugo. Overhearing something, the dirty blond blinked, his unused sixth sense sparking to life and alerting him of danger. He followed that intuition and spun around; behold were three kids ready to assault him! Well only one of them was heading his way! Edward swung his blade vertically, but due to his shy callowness of the sword, the axe man dodged it. "Who the hell are you?!" Pugo roared furiously.

"Someone who's taking you out of the game!" Edward taunted, smirking. He knew he would pay for that someday, but it was only used to stall for time while his friends charged for the other bandit. His comment, more or less, infuriated the brigand further.

"Grrr! We'll see about that, boy!" the bandit boss fumed, swinging his axe in his hand, lunging for the myrmidon. Edward posed himself watching the axeman's foot work with his eyes, but also paying attention to the swinging of his arm. If anything, it was wild, untamed, but powerful—Edward swiftly dodged the three attacks aimed for him, grinning when Pugo missed him, applying more taunts.

Meanwhile, Micaiah summoned a light spell to strike the bandit she and Leonardo went after, managing to hit and blind him temporarily while the archer fired an arrow to the man's arm. "Gah! You punks are gonna get it when I—!" The bandit raged, but with another round of light magic and an arrow striking the left center of his chest, he couldn't finish his insult.

"He wasn't as tough as he looked." Leonardo admitted. "But he was annoying, I will say."

"I agree…" his friend nodded, then turned around, noticing Edward had been doing his task; distracting the bandit leader. However, from the looks of things, he didn't look like he would last longer. Edward was clearly tiring out! "Leonardo! We have to help Edward! Come on!" Micaiah urged, hurrying as fast as her legs would carry her. The lighter blond didn't object, taking off after Micaiah quickly. When they were within range, the light mage fired off another spell of light magic at Pugo, and Leonardo let an arrow escape his precise-like aim from his fingertips, sailing through the air. However, Pugo, from the corner of his eye, saw the attacks coming. He held up his axe to deflect its rays of brightness, and ducked as the arrow flew by. This bought time for Edward to roll from underneath the man, gripping the pommel of his sword as he stood with his friends.

"Grrr! You brats! Who do you think you are, the Dawn Brigade?!" He shouted irritably.

"Correction: we _are_ the Dawn Brigade!" Edward told truthfully. He, Leonardo and Micaiah were cornering him, all on three sides of him, trapping him between a dead end and the only way out. Pugo growled, glaring at each of them, especially at the silver-haired girl. "I will ask you once; stop stealing from the town and leave!" She demanded, which caused the bandit leader to chuckle deviously.

"You give us proper thieves a bad name. Hah! You like charity? Come closer! I'll show you some charity!" Pugo laughed, swinging his iron axe wildly, which made the three back up to avoid being hit.

Micaiah narrowed her golden eyes firmly on her opponent, frowning. "These people work hard to feed their families mere scraps. Then you come along and steal what little they've earned. That's not charity! That isn't right!"

"Shut up, kid!" Pugo hollered. ""I work hard, too! You want honest? Once I've sold you, I'll have earned an honest penny!""

"Pfft, as if!" Edward mocked.

"What was that, punk!?"

"It is three against one. Unfair odds, don't you think?" Leonardo added. "I suggest listening to her. Leave now or face the consequences."

"Hmrph! Not ever! I'll kill you two boys, take what I came for, and steal the girl. I'll sell her to the highest bidder and earn me a good lifestyle where I don't need to steal from pathetic people!" Pugo spat, and then charged for the archer. "You're first!"

"Hey!" Edward called out, intervening with a slash to Pugo's back. The man grunted, stumbling forward as his straps were sliced clean, as well as his tunic, having a nice, diagonal tear through it with fresh blood trickling down. "Grr! You're gonna pay for that!" the burly brute growled, now rushing to meet the myrmidon head on, stupidly, of course. He struck at Edward, who evaded, just barely, and countered with his own attack. Pugo saw it coming, blocking the slash with his heavy axe, pushing the boy away as if he were nothing but a stick in his way. "Humph! You got nothing on me, boy!"

"Ugh!" Edward grumbled, skidding back on his feet slightly. His two friends rush to his side, leering at the bandit leader. He didn't look like he was going down without a fight.

"We better end this quickly, or we will draw unnecessary attention from Begnion troops." Leonardo observed, being unaware of the soldier that had been watching them intently. "We certainly don't need them to find us here.""

"Yeah, that's true, but how do we go about and beat this lug? He can tell when we're going to strike!" The brown haired sword fighter mumbled, panting. "Even when I was against him by myself, I namely dodged and taunted him. That guy is seriously heavy! Trying to counter him is staggeringly hard enough as is. I literally felt my bones scream when he blocked my attack with his axe. Man!"

"I have an idea, but we may have one shot at this," Micaiah admitted lightly, having cooked up something in her mind.

"Well, better think quickly because here he comes!" Edward yelped. The three didn't have much time to react; Micaiah and Leonardo were able to jump away from the vertical attack Pugo aimed at all of them; however, Edward stayed, using the strength of his body to hold his iron sword in front of him to block the attack. It was hard; the guy was just bigger than him and had a lot of power packed on. His muscles adding more pressure didn't help the brunet, either. He struggled to keep the axeman at bay, clashing against him until his two friends were ready.

"Listen, Leonardo. Remember our first attack? I want you to shoot him, but don't really aim at him. Make him think you'll shoot at him, but in reality, you miss. This will draw his attention to you." Micaiah says hurriedly, noticing the panting and near exhausted Edward defending and dodging as much as he could. "Then, I will use my light magic to stun him, giving Edward the opportunity.""

"Ah, I see it now! It was very similar how we took out that last one, right?"

"Yes, exactly, just lightly modified. Hurry, Edward looks worn down even more than before."

"Got it!" Leonardo, from his position by the crates, drew another arrow, falsely aiming at the brigand as told. "Hey! Leave him alone, will you?" The archer called out, getting the man's utmost attention. The blond let the arrow fly, and upon instinct, Pugo ducked away to dodge the purposely missed arrow. "Heh! You missed, idiot! Can't you aim correctly?" Pugo taunted. Leonardo simply stared at him as the man continued gloating. Meanwhile, Micaiah was well prepared with her magic, twirled once and allowed the light escape her fingers and striking the bandit leader head on!

"Ack! Gaahh! It's bright! Rrrrrgh!"" Pugo bellowed, covering his eyes.

"Edward! Now! Get him while he's distracted. It won't last long!" the silver-haired girl shouted. Exhausted, the brunet swordsman gritted his teeth, his sword's pommel, he gripped tighter, running up to Pugo with a battle cry, charging with a horizontal slash to his unprotected groin, and then drilling his sword into the nuisance's neck. Pugo gutted blood from his mouth, the liquid spilling about around him, making a large puddle. "Agghh! Wh...What just... happened!?" He choked, screaming painfully. His body couldn't hold on any longer, and soon, he fell to the ground, dead.

Edward panted again, stepping away before the bottoms of his shoes were soaked in the crimson fluid that continued to pour out slowly from the former bandit's body. "Whew. That was intense. And that was just a bandit." The brunet sighed. His two friends approached him, carefully as to not step in the blood, and smiled. "Hey, Micaiah. We won, it's like you said; they weren't a match for us!" Edward said with an adorable wink. The girl he was addressing nodded, feeling proud of her friends helping the villagers and ending the bandits' attack against them.

"Yune, come here." She called, the orange canary instantly returning to her side, sitting on her left shoulder.

Silently, the soldier from before continued watching, smiling very lightly. The Dawn Brigade were just mere children who had amazing skill. If not too careful, they could be even stronger than some of the finest Begnion soldiers. Perhaps that was one reason why the Imperial Occupation Army was so interested in getting their hands on them. They wanted this band of Robin Hoods silenced so they could keep the uproars at a minimum. Well, they weren't doing a very good job. Each day, the Dawn Brigade grows stronger, the longer they live. They'll never even get a chance to stop them. This young man was hoping for that outcome. However, coming to interrupt his time of peace were three more soldiers that were possibly assigned to patrol the area.

"Hey you. What are you doing here all by yourself? The commander was looking for you." One said. The young man remained silent as ever, simply eying the other with a frown now carved on. "Er..." The soldier stuttered at the ominous stare given at him before beginning again. "Wh-what are you looking at?" The two look down at where the seemingly blue-eyed knight was glancing at, noticing a suspicious group of villagers were huddled together in one area. One boy had a bow, the other had a sword, a girl with strange colored hair had a light yellow book in her hands, a young boy and older woman with them that didn't carry anything. However, what really caught their attention was the boy's blade; it was stained with blood! This was suspicious indeed.

"Hm! They could be apart of the Dawn Brigade!" The first knight stated, inspecting as well. "Were they the ones who fought off bandits?"

A simple nod from the silent soldier was all that was needed to set the other two off. "Hey man! Why didn't you stop them? You know they're against Begnion! Why!?" The second one questions in demand, growling.

"...There were bandits attacking," the blue-eyed young man began, his voice soft but cold as ice. "So they stepped in an area you fools weren't good at; protecting the villagers and killing off the bandits."

"You idiot!" The second soldier fumes. "Nobody cares about damn bandits robbing the place!" This made the soldier with blue hair scowl lightly, but kept his peace, for now, as the second soldier continued wallowing by voice. "Ah man, the commanding officer is going to nag on our asses if we don't do something about them soon..."

**Meanwhile...**

"You did it!" a voice called over to the group, who turn and see it was the woman and boy from earlier. "Thank you so much! We owe you our lives!"

"It was no trouble ma'am―" Micaiah began, but...

"You there! What are you doing!?" Another's voice shouting at them cut her off abruptly. The startled group look up, wondering, then eventually find the source of the yelling; a Begnion soldier! "Stop immediately!"

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up... Begnion soldiers. They certainly took their time, didn't they?" Edward said half sarcastically, sheathing his sword and frowning.

"We mustn't be caught." Leonardo warned, watching as the soldiers were still staring at them. Micaiah slowly turns to the woman and child, also frowning. This was so sudden for the Begnion soldiers to find them.

"I'm sorry. We have to leave." She states sadly.

"I know. Thank you again for all you've done. Now, go! Run!" The lady says, encouraging them to hurry along.

"Micaiah! Edward! Make a break for it. Run!" Leonardo urges. The group begins to leave, rushing through the small area, and heading down more steps. However, before not getting too far, the boy wiggles free from the woman, running up behind them, knowing his small legs couldn't catch up, but still, his heart had to shout to them what he wanted to say. "Hey, lady! My name's Nico! When I grow up, I want to be just like you guys! Come back sometime!" The brunet says happily, waving to them goodbye. The trio takes this into heart, remembering the boy's name as they continued their escape.

"Hold it! Stop right there!" The first soldier yells out, but his voice met it's echo instead.

"Who are you bellowing at, soldier?"

All four soldiers turn gasp in surprise, except the usually quiet one, as they turned to meet the owner of this new voice that sounded awfully familiar to them. ""G-General Jarod?"" The first soldier stammered in surprise. Coming along with this man, Jarod, was another soldier clad in the same armor as they, however, appeared more burlier, having dark navy hair, tan complexion, and held a lance in his hands.

"Wh-When did you arrive?" The second asked, stuttering as well.

The man called Jarod was a tall man, possibly around in the six feet. His hair was smooth, a little wild, and the shade of auburn. His eyes matched this, and with his fair skin, it was like a complete puzzle for his features. He was wearing a maroon colored tunic, with shades of purple armor on his shoulders, waist, legs, back and feet. He had his helmet off, being snapped on the back of his armor; he also wore a teal colored scarf around his neck, and held a red lance in his hand. The general approached the men talking to him, frowning when they gawked, rather than replying.

"Answer my question, maggot." Jarod demanded. "I want to know who you were yelling at and why you did nothing but yell at them."

"S-sorry, sir." The man apologized, saluting. The two others followed suit, except the third, while the first soldier continued. ""We suspect they were from the Dawn Brigade, a band of thieves that targets goods levied from the town. People say they give what they've stolen back to the villagers and strut around acting like heroes. Some say they have a witch among them, a girl called the Silver-Haired Maiden. They say she can heal wounds instantly by laying her hands on any injury. The townspeople treat her like a savior."

"And? What have you been doing about this band of fools?" Jarod demanded next, looking less than amused by the "report" the soldier gave him.

"Sir. A few days ago we stormed their hideout. We found a girl much like the Silver-Haired Maiden... We ran the dogs from their den, but they were cunning and cautious, and...We lost them." The first soldier stated, his voice slipping to silence after his last sentence. After absorbing the information in, the general closed his eyes, a smug, sarcastic grin appearing on his face.

"I see. I'm beginning to understand."

"How do you mean, sir?"

Jarod open his eyes, glaring into the idiot's face. "I'm beginning to understand exactly how incompetent you all are!" He growls furiously, and stabs the soldier through his abdomen forcefully, ending the fool's life that instantly.

"Urk!" the first Begnion soldier blurted out his last before falling to the ground, dead, similarly to the bandit earlier. The blue-haired male's eyes widened in fury—how could a man kill his own soldier!? That was beyond heartless! Still, his voice couldn't be spoken, just yet, or else uproar would commence. Once the sating of his death was over, Jarod turned to the other three incompetents, leering at them. "Make the villagers talk. I want to know who these bandits are and where they're hiding."" He commanded.

"Y-yes, sir! Understood, sir!" The second and third said, trembling. They were gone in a flash, while the dark navy haired knight walked towards Jarod. The unusually silent one quietly obeys, though walks off slowly.

"I don't care who they are. The more kick they have in them, the more fun for us, don't you think, sir?" The third soldier, named Alder, says.

"Precisely. Overseeing this dusty old town is wearing thin. A little fresh game is just what I need." The general replies sadistically. However, his eyes catch onto the slow moving soldier he had just commanded, growling in anger. "These damn bastards just can't get a move on today. I better go rouse him." Alder chuckles as Jarod heads over to the slowed knight, angered.

"You! Pick up the pace, unless you want to end up like that idiot I stabbed moments ago!" He threatened. The young man doesn't move any faster; in fact he stops completely, and then turns around with his head down for a second. Jarod narrows his auburn eyes menacingly at this fool who is utterly disobeying him, approaching him yet again until he was in his face. "I said get a move on, damnit, or you will die! Is that what you want?!" The blue-eyed soldier simply stares up at him with his gaze, unfazed by the threat.

Suddenly, he smirks in such a snide, taunting way that infuriates Jarod to the boiling point. Seeing as he didn't want to unnecessarily lose pawning soldiers at this point, he grudgingly allows the idiot to live. Just this once. Their eyes meet, and hold and grueling staring contest. If anyone didn't know any better, sparks were starting to set up between them; that is, until Jarod breaks the silence. "Get in your place, maggot." He hisses venomously, which still makes the soldier unfazed. Their unusual staring contest continues for a while longer until the shorter male eventually breaks it off and leaves. Once he was gone, Alder steps forward again, his eyes leering at the odd encounter.

"Sir? What was that all about?"

"Another incompetent fool who will learn his place very soon. I'm allowing the maggot to live for today just because he is nothing more than a pawn to me. But, that chilling stare was unnatural almost. I better not let it get to me, or else I'll lose myself to stupidity."

* * *

Ahhh, must end it here, folks! My hands are dying and probably need 3 days of rest. I bet most know who's the quiet Begnion soldier. XD Also, I altered the dialogue of some of the speech, so they weren't so much as direct copy and paste from the game. I will update my other works, no worries. This was just on my mind for a bit and everything. Anyway, review, fave, follow what-have-you! Flames and unwanted reviews that don't help me will be destroyed. Also, why did I think of "The Goddess's Rebuke" when Jarod and the soldier came face to face? ...Ah well. Oh and sorry for any OOC-ness of any of the FE characters (and Ryu). I try to let my imagination run a little too much sometimes. Anyhoots.

Thanks in advance! :D


	2. A Dragon's Healing

Thanks for the follows and reviews everyone! Now here's chapter two! Enjoy! :)

* * *

**Part I:** Silver-Haired Maiden; The Dragon Prince

**Chapter II:** A Dragon's Healing

* * *

Edward, Leonardo and Micaiah continued running, ducking under a convenient tunnel bridge of town to avoid being spotted by Begnion soldiers. Once it was clear, the trio headed down another back alley way, going inside a shelter of sorts. It was nearing into the evening when they arrived indoors, out of breath, but thankful they made it to their base of operations, and out of Begnion's eyes for now.

"Whew, finally made it…" Edward sighed tiredly, closing his eyes. He found a seat at their makeshift table, trying to catch his breath.

"Yes. It's rather unfortunate that we were seen." Leonardo added, closing his eyes momentarily. "I hope Nolan and Sothe make it home safely…"

"I do as well." Micaiah lightly agreed, sighing heavily. They had been running from Begnion soldiers since the day Crimea walked away from them after winning the war three years ago. They allowed the empire to rule over them with an iron fist, mistreating the citizens and taking men and imprisoning them in camps. The Dawn Brigade stood against their tyranny, claiming themselves as the Robin Hood of the land; taking from the rich and giving to the poor. They were also citizens of Daein, having met one another the few months prior to the downfall of the nation. They had devoted themselves to protect the people of Daein, and one day, liberate it from the tight grasp Begnion held over it. The company had been the prime target in the empire's eyes, having more worry about a bunch of people rebelling than running over the townsfolk. Silence filled the entire household, if it could be called that. The night went on for what appeared to be a long time, the three remained hushed as they prepared a light meal in which to eat.

The next morning arrived, far too quickly for the three teenaged members of the Dawn Brigade. Once they were awake fully, Micaiah spoke up.

"How should we explain yesterday to Sothe and Nolan?"

"It's like you said; we didn't have a choice." Leonardo began. "We had to save Nico and the townsfolk. But I admit, getting spotted by those Begnion soldiers was unfortunate, as I've said yesterday." He let out a sigh before continuning. "Still, I'd do it all over again. The worst part is they know we're near. They could find this hideout as easily as they found our last one."

Edward rolled over in mild complaint. "I just don't get it. This is our country… Why do we have to live in hiding, like prisoners in our own land?"

Leonardo sighed again in exasperation, looking at his myrmidon companion. "Come on, you know why. We lost the war… and Crimea won. It's not "our" country anymore. End of story."

"Except that Crimea walked away after winning, leaving those heartless Begnion dogs to rule our country for the last three years!" The brunet voiced angrily. "The occupying soldiers march around like they own the place, doing whatever they want, and no one dares to stop them!"

"To be fair, Crimea didn't have the resources to rule another country." A masculine voice told them from a reasonable distance, surprising the chatting trio. They turned around, knowing who it was that spoke.

Entering the base were two men, looking concerned. However, one of the two were taller, a man built into his later thirties, with muscles packed onto his arms and visibly showing through his clothing. He had shaggy, brown hair that left past his ears, a mustache and beard rounding as facial hair, gentle but firm brown color for his eyes. His skin complexion was hardly called fair, as it seemed tanned, if only a little. He wore a dark blue tunic with the collar sleeves unfolded, a dark green and brown, padded armor vest above the tunic, silver shoulder plates of armor for shoulder protection, and thick, brown gloves meant for cushioning his hands inside, but rough for gripping weapons. One in particular was an axe he carried, strapped to his back. Across his waist was a brown belt, a golden buckle situated in the center of said belt to keep the strap securely tightened, and brown, thick pants that dressed his legs. Lastly, dark brown boots supported covering for his feet, having straps around them to keep them in place. Next to this man, was none other than Sothe, the green-haired teen that was seen with Micaiah three days ago during their escape from the Begnion troops.

"Sothe! And Nolan, too! Welcome back. I'm glad you made it in one piece." Micaiah greeted them cheerfully, grateful they had made it back safely.

"At last, the Dawn Brigade is all present." The blond archer says, smiling lightly. "But you are unusually late. Were you delayed?"

"I think our fame's catching up with us. Begnion patrols are everywhere. It took us a while to avoid them." Sothe replied, his expression read curiosity.

"I've never seen so much Begnion activity in this area before." Nolan, the older of the group, observed quietly. "Is there… something we should know?" His eyes focused on the three, wondering. Micaiah looked away as the topic was brought up, Edward remained quiet, and Leonardo sighed lightly, knowing this would be inevitable.

"Um, well, actually, the truth is…" He started, earning the attention of Nolan and Sothe equally. "We were on our way back to the base, and I had gone off to find us something to eat for dinner. Micaiah and Edward went ahead of me to make sure Begnion troops weren't around."

"Yeah." Edward chipped in next. "But Leonardo was taking so long, it got Micaiah and I worried. Before we could suggest to look for him or anything, bandits were attacking, stealing food from the villagers, just making a mess of things."

"But…" Leonardo wanted to say, but couldn't for some reason.

Nolan closed his eyes. "Ah, that's what did it. You had a run-in with bandits?" He asked.

"Yes, we did." Edward added. "We stopped them, though."

"And Begnion soldiers spotted us as we made our escape." Micaiah added in next. "I'm sorry. We only wanted to help. We were careless."

Sothe shook his head in understanding. "We'll worry about that later. More importantly, Micaiah, were you seen healing anyone with Sacrifice?"

"I'm afraid so." The silver haired girl answered, Sothe getting frustrated with light rage with her response.

"Micaiah, you can't allow anyone to know what you can do. Healing without any tomes or staves is a rare gift—almost unheard of. If anyone saw you doing it, you'd be given away immediately, and I don't know if I could keep you safe."

"I know, Sothe."

"I know you know, but you keep doing it!" Sothe nearly shouted, but managed to keep calm. "This place isn't safe anymore. We should leave at once." He demanded, grabbing a few possessions, such as vulneraries, food they could carry lightly, and gold they had collected and earned. Once those were settled into a bag tightly, he secured it around his waist's belt, glancing at the others. "We can't stay here. Those Begnion soldiers will find this place."

"Hm, that's correct." Nolan agreed, taking a deep breath as a sigh. "Ah, but it would have been nice to eat just one meal in peace…"

It wasn't long when the group had collected what they could carry and abandoned their base. Sothe cautiously crept around to keep an eye on soldiers' movements, directing the group to follow him through an alley way from behind their base. Once doing so, he told them to go on ahead, as he would find a way around for them. Traveling as a group together would be risky, as they would have been spotted easier. Nolan and the others head out safely, reaching the back alley of the church. They stayed quietly for awhile, now growing worried for the greenet. Nolan suggested they peek around and see if soldiers were nearby; sure enough, there were soldiers everywhere.

"This way's no good either." Edward announced. "Begnion soldiers have every alleyway blocked. A kitten couldn't sneak past them."

"It looks like this really is the least guarded path, then. Even so, it's swarming with soldiers." The axe wielder of the group stated.

"There are more coming up behind us! We'll be trapped if we don't move quickly!" Micaiah urged.

"We can't wait for Sothe." Nolan added softly, still concerned for the whereabouts of the teen.

"The stairs by the church lead to the marketplace. We can break through there." the light mage said, pointing out a way for them to escape. "We'll have to fight our way through."

"I'll go first and secure the way." Nolan began, looking at the archer and light mage. "Micaiah and Leonardo, cover my back! Remember to keep your distance from the enemy. Team up and bring them down one by one!"

"Right. We'll be careful." The girl replied.

"Leave it to us." Leonardo added.

After hearing their voices, Nolan turned to the brunet myrmidon. "Edward, you bring up the rear. Your skills have improved, but you're still new to fighting. Don't rush the enemy. Just focus on surviving their attacks. Got it?"

Edward partially nodded, shrugging in overconfidence. "Yeah, yeah, I got it." He said. However, something, or rather, someone was approaching them from behind. His eyes caught onto the moving figure, then widened when he realized it was a Begnion soldier! Uh-oh! "Oh wow, Micaiah, you weren't kidding! A Begnion soldier is right behind us!"

"Wh-what?!" Leonardo panicked.

"No…" Micaiah gasped.

Nolan instinctively stood in front of the group with his axe handy, narrowing his eyes as the Begnion soldier neared them. The man was armed, with a sheathed sword at his side, but hadn't drawn it at all. That was rather odd to the group, but they remained on their guard. "If you're here to arrest us, then you'll have to fight us, first." Nolan stated seriously. The young man in red-clad armor did not flinch, but rather nodded.

"I am aware…" He said quietly. "You are the Dawn Brigade."

"Yeah. Why?" Edward asked, matter-of-factly.

"…I have no quarrel with any of you." The soldier said, his visible blue eye flashing. None of them caught this, except Micaiah. How odd that someone's eyes would flash like that and with no light in the clouds above. His gaze turned to Micaiah, Edward and Leonardo in particular. "I have seen you three yesterday. You defeated a gang of bandits to protect the citizens. That was very noble, and something Begnion soldiers would never do for the people of Daein."

"…Ah, thank you…" The silver haired girl said lightly.

"It was nothing. We only want to help everyone, really." Leonardo said after. Edward had a big grin painted on his face, though said nothing. "But, why are you here, if I may ask? What do you want from us? Aren't you with Begnion?"

"I saw you escaping from your base of operations," the mysterious soldier began, surprising the Dawn Brigade members, "but I didn't tell any of them that you all were leaving. I know you're trying to escape. Allow me to help you."

"And, why should we trust you?" Leonardo questioned next.

"…My heart is not with the fools and their ambitions. I don't know how I got tangled up in this service, but if I can help… then perhaps there is hope for Daein."

Micaiah closed her eyes, patiently reading the flow of the soldier's heart and mind. It was an ability she gained while growing up, and has been able to ever since. After a brief moment, she reopened her eyes, nodding to her companions. "He's telling the truth." She said. "We can trust him."

"All right, Micaiah. If you say we can trust him, then we'll trust him." Nolan deduced, smiling lightly.

The soldier was taken aback a little; he knew the Silver-Haired Maiden was gifted, but he didn't know she was able to read minds or the like. That small sense of power he felt; that was hers. Amazing. "I suppose I can ditch the armor…" The young man said, removing the breast plate, shoulder, arms and legs plates. Underneath the armor was, apparently, his true apparel; a cream colored shirt supported his chest, and above this, was a silver breastplate of its own, with matching shoulder and arm plates on both sides. White, detached jacket strips of sorts adorned themselves alongside his shoulders and his backside. His pants were slightly baggy, a dark green color, supported by a dark brown belt with a silver buckle and appeared thick. His boots were brown, and seemed to be made out of material unknown to the group. An orange scarf was draped around his neck; white bandages were wrapped around his lower arm lengths to his wrists. Upon his hands, he wore brown half gloves that were comfortable. He stacked the armor together in a pile, pushing them towards the nearest wall, reattaching his sheath to left side of his waist's belt.

"That should do the trick." The blue-eyed male said.

"Your helmet's still on…" Edward pointed out.

"I'm aware."

"…Well, how come you won't take it off? We're not gonna bite."

"It's complicated to say why… Perhaps when we're out of here, I will. I'm trying to avoid detection…"

"Oh… well I suppose that makes sense." The brunet mildly said, unsheathing his sword. "I take it you know how to use a sword, too?" The other simply nodded to the question. "So, what's your name?"

"…We'll leave that until later as well. Again, I'm trying to avoid detection. Many of the Begnion soldiers know my name…"

"All right." Edward relented. "By the way, since you'll be with us, welcome to the Dawn Brigade!"

"Now that we're somewhat acquainted, let's get this over with before _real_ Begnion soldiers come for us." Nolan suggested urgently. "Remember our tactic from before." The older man turned to the newcomer. "You and Edward bring up the rear. I'll carve us a path."

"Right." Both swordsmen nodded in approval. Nolan prepared his axe, leading the group through the narrow pathway of the alley. It wasn't long until one of the men in the back path noticed their movements, turning to the man standing next to him.

"Captain Isaiya! Just as you said, a group that appears to be the Dawn Brigade is storming the alley!" the mercenary axe man alerted.

The man standing next to this mercenary was about in his mid twenties, with maroon colored hair, it being tied into a low ponytail. He had light orange-like skin as a complexion, wearing a sepia-colored tunic with short sleeves, dark sepia colored padded vest with thick straps to keep it firmly strapped to his body as protection for his upper chest and abdomen. He wore twin brown belts with silver buckles across his waist, a sheath to his right. Lastly, he wore sepia colored half gloves, black pants and matching boots, along with a sword in his grasp. He smirked cunningly, "How generous of them. I'll wipe them out and advertise my exploits to our commanders back home."

The Dawn Brigade, with the now ex-Begnion soldier with them, hurried to meet their first opponent. It was a man armed with a sword, and Nolan knew full well he would be at a disadvantage. "Leonardo, Micaiah! I need him weakened first!" the bearded man called to them. The Light mage and archer instinctively went ahead, surrounding the enemy myrmidon.

"The Dawn Brigade!" he shouted a loud. Unfortunately, that was all he uttered, as Micaiah blinded him with a light spell, Leonardo fired two arrows at his knees, and Nolan finished him by splitting him in half with the blade of his axe. The next soldier to meet his demise by the hands of the stranger and Edward wielded a lance, standing in front of the church's door way. Perfect.

"He's got a lance, we better be careful!" the brunet warned his fellow sword-user, who simply nodded, but internally, didn't really care.

"What the—!" The red-clad lance man bellowed as Edward was charging for him, and the blue-eyed young man right behind him. He readied his battle pike, waiting for the chance to hit the foolishly stupid boy who dared challenged him with a blade. "Hey! Hasn't anyone taught you about the Weapon Triangle?!" He shouted, thrusting his lance forward when Edward was close. The brunet gasped, barely dodging by a hair—literally—off his head.

"I know all about it, bud! But, to quick people like me, I don't have to care so much!" Edward retaliated, slashing at the soldier horizontally with swiftness of his blade and unmatched agility. The soldier didn't have much time to evade, so he raised his buckle-like shield to protect himself from the attack. The clank! of their metal against iron didn't go by unnoticed, as more Begnion idiots were beginning to pile around the corner. "More of them are coming." The other swordsman thought a loud, narrowing his eyes when spotting them. He turned to Edward and the soldier he was fighting; they were struggling to overpower the other, very similarly to how the brunet performed the day before against the bandits.

When his gaze locked with the soldier's his eyes widened in fear, pointing behind him, almost telling him to 'look out!'. The idiot broke off the trance, turning around with a "huh!?", letting his guard down just slightly. Edward grinned, taking this opportunity to stab the man through his unprotected abdomen, letting him bleed to his death. "Heh, got him! Thanks for the stall!" Edward chuckled, rummaging through the dead man's inventory and finding a valuable vulnerary. This would be useful for the long run. Before the two could move on, an old woman stopped them, as well as a man that had been inside the church. They were given vulnerary and an axe, called a Hand Axe. The two swordsmen thanked the two villagers before allowing them to close the doors to the church and house respectively, to avoid the conflict of outside.

The group met up around the church's left side corner, now facing off with an archer, another myrmidon and a man using a Hand Axe from himself. They were getting rather clever, or annoying, according to Edward. "Nolan, we picked this up for you!" Edward said, handing the man the boomerang like axe. Nolan chuckled at the "gracious gift", proud to be able to use it.

"Thank you, Edward. Now, let me handle this one!" Nolan said as he charged for the man with the Hand Axe. The mercenary tossed his axe, however, Nolan dodged by rolling out of its path. "This is how it's done!" He called to the other, throwing his Hand Axe with impressive strength expertly. The spinning, boomerang axe nicked the man in his right leg, allowing Nolan to finish him with his Steel Axe.

Meanwhile, Micaiah and the mysterious swordsman were dealing with the enemy archer, who was firing off arrows. He and the girl were unable to get too close without being hit fatally. "Ah!" Micaiah squeaked out as an arrow was nearing her. The helmet-wearer threw himself between her and the arrow, knocking it away with the back of his hand. This stunned the archer, more or less. "What the!? How did you—?" The silver haired girl found this chance to attack, twirling elegantly as she called on a light spell once again to stun and blind the man temporarily. This gave the winning finish for the swordsman, thrusting his sword like a knife right through the fool's neck, felling him as he bled profusely, and dropping dead. The young man lightly jerked his sword out, with not a stain of blood on his weapon. Micaiah found this weird, but nonetheless, didn't ask. "Good work. I think we'll be out of here very soon if we keep this up." She said, smiling fairly.

"Mmhm." Her companion nodded in agreement. The two were soon accompanied by Nolan, who turned to watch Edward and Leonardo take out the third soldier that had tried attacking them.

"Haaah-aaaah!" Edward lunged forward, his sword and his opponent's meeting, clashing and creating steel sparks. While they were busy doing this, Leonardo readied three arrows, firing off one at a time, though rapidly, and aiming for the Begnion mercenary. The first few times he had managed to dodge the attacks, and nearly shoved Edward into the line of range. Thankfully, the Dawn Brigade member nimbly evaded the arrow himself, growling with rage. "Hey! That was dirty!" The brunet said, frowning.

"Anything can be dirty!" the other myrmidon retorted back. "Nothing can be fair in this world! You all better give up while you can!"

"Never!" Edward charged forward, landing a horizontal attack against the sword fighter. A large gash of a cut wounded itself upon his face, enraging the man.

"How dare you! Errraaahh!" He shouted, retaliating by jabbing forward with a strike. The brunet managed to dodge the attack, and grinned. This irritated his opponent, who wildly kept jabbing in rage. However, Edward continued to dodge his attacks by backing up.

"You're not even hitting me!" he jeered. "Come on!"

"Stay still, punk!"

"Haha!"

"Grrrrhhhh! Quit your jumping around and fight back, whelp—! GAAAH!" he stopped instantly, his unoccupied hand hurried to where he was struck. An arrow lodged itself into his back, and it was out of his reach! "Aaagh! It—! My back!" Leonardo aimed another, shooting the fool through his kneecaps. He roared in pain again, stumbling backwards, unfortunately. The arrows in both his back and kneecaps dug deeper into his flesh, a pool of blood was underneath him in a matter of seconds. "Gaaah!"

"Now you're not so much talk." Edward smirked, eying the wounded man. "I would end this, but it'd be a waste of my time. So, you can lay there. See ya!" The brunet and his blond archer companion hurried off to combine with their friends, who were now heading towards the exit of the stairs, leading to the marketplace.

"I'm actually glad you spared him." Micaiah told Edward, who mildly shrugged.

"Yeah. He wasn't worth it. But I should have taken his life…"

"You did the right thing, Ed." Nolan added sagely. "Even though Begnion has an iron fist over Daein, simply sparing a life is the best option. We're not heartless killers; we're the Dawn Brigade. We should only kill, I hate to admit, but, when it's _absolutely_ necessary…"

"Like right now?" The brunet myrmidon pointed out to Isaiya and the mercenary from earlier. The group stopped; these two men were blocking their way out of this jam. Micaiah closed her eyes, feeling horrible. Something bad was going to happen, but she didn't know what it was…

"Heh. Going somewhere?" Isiaya snorts rudely. "What fast little mice you are! How long do you plan on scurrying around in back alleys?"

"As long as it's necessary." Leonardo answered, which irked the swordsman blocking their way.

"Step aside!" Micaiah demanded.

Isiaya turned to the girl, grinning. "The girl we've been looking for! You're a lucky little escapee. It's too bad for you, sweetie because your luck ends today!" The Begnion mercenary shouts, charging for Micaiah as the other beside him lunges for Leonardo! Isiaya's Steel Sword meets with Nolan's Steel Axe, and the other's axe clashes with Edward's Iron Sword. Both Dawn Brigade members push their foes back with relative ease, standing guard for the mage and archer respectively.

"Have you no manners? Attacking a defenseless woman?" Nolan glared at the maroon-haired blade man, who laughs spitefully.

"Manners? I don't need them when my pockets are going to be full when the girl is dead. And you will be right along with her!" Isiaya charged again, this time, his blade meeting the helmet-wearer's blade! "Grrh! Just how many of you are there?!"

"Enough to take you out, that's what!" Edward shot out, he and his opponent going head to head. Leonardo supported his myrmidon friend by firing arrows from a safe distance, managing to lodge one in the enemy axe man's eye.

"Gah!" he groaned in agony.

"Take this!" Edward moved in for the finishing blow. However, Isiaya blocked him, countering with a deadly horizontal slash to the brunet's neck! Edward, unfortunately, did not see that coming. The brunet's neck gashed open, and could have fallen off if he had not stumbled backwards at the last second. Edward dropped down instantly, the grip on his sword lost as it went down with him, clanking. He was trembling in his own blood, coughing, gagging for air. Micaiah's eyes widened, aghast; this is what she felt! She couldn't stop it! "EDWARD!" Leonardo roared, hurrying to his side, and snatching a vulnerary as quick as he could to apply it to his friend's severe wound. Micaiah ushered to his aid as well, her golden, worried eyes filling with tears. Nolan and the swordsman were filled with brewing rage, angered at how cruel this man had been, and how far he had gone. They turned and faced Edward's assailant.

"Hahaha! The punk deserved it! Now he will die, knowing he was useless!" Isiaya bellowed. His eyes met the glaring pair of eyes of Nolan and the helmet-wearer. "Hmph! Now you want to join him in the afterlife? Well, be my guest! Let's have at it!"

"There will be no afterlife for us. Or for him. It will be for **you**." The ex-Begnion stated with a low, callous tone. Before Isiaya could blink, Nolan was charging for the other axe man while he dealt with the captain. Isiaya growled lowly as he narrowed his own eyes at the foolish young man approaching him.

Nolan, with his hands full with the other axe man, struck at one another, taking turns at chance strikes. Nolan was cut on his lower abdomen as he sliced the man's shoulder vertically. The other backed up, using his axe as the Hand Axe it was meant for, and chunked it at Nolan. The older man saw it coming, but instead of dodging it, he timed the spinning axe well and caught its handle. This surprised the thrower, who was now weaponless! "Damn you!" He roared, unable to do anything about this. "Hmph. You should be damning yourself." Nolan growled, charging the Begnion soldier quickly. With both the Hand Axe of his foe and his own, he spun them in his hands, throwing one both simultaneously. The other axe man gaped, but managed to dodge both attacks swiftly. Unfortunately, as he rolled out of the way, he was met with Nolan's Steel Axe's sharp edge, and his head being lopped off almost like butter. With him dead and out of the way, Nolan quickly retrieved his Hand Axe and running towards Leonardo and Micaiah.

"How is he?"

"It's not working." Leonardo panicked. "The vulnerary is not working! Edward is losing a lot of blood and his breathing is getting coarser!" The blond had never been so scared in his life. He and Edward were very close friends despite they were mere opposites of each other. Leo was naturally so serious and calculative while Ed was cheerful and had big dreams that were most likely impossible to accomplish. Losing Edward now would carve a gap into Leonardo's heart. "Please, Edward! Please! Hang on!"

"Micaiah, can't you do something…? Anything?" Nolan asked, worried.

Tears still shed from the girl's eyes. "I don't know if my Sacrifice will be enough, Nolan, but I will try."

Isiaya and the ex-Begnion were staring each other down, trying to pinpoint a weakness. The young man with blue eyes closed them, concentrating. He felt the dying soul of Edward, and he had to hurry. "Wait. Don't use your ability." He warned Micaiah. She turned around, teary eyed, Leonardo beating her to the question first.

"Why not!? He's dying!" The blond yelled.

"At the rate he's in, she'll kill herself trying to restore him." His gaze locked with Leonardo's frustrated one, "He is still hanging on. Keep talking to him or something! I will finish this fool off." To the others, it sounded as if he would save Edward's life. But, that couldn't be possible. However, the archer wasn't going to stand back any longer. He needed to avenge his friend, and the only way he could do that is by taking out Isiaya. He grabbed his bow and quiver, hurrying towards the fray with the helmet warrior and the blocking swordsman.

"I will fight with you. I must fight for Edward."

"Fight for him and for yourself."

"…I will."

"Don't fight with rage. It will blind you. Remember that."

"Heh, you'll both end up like that brat! Here I come!" Isiaya roared, charging straight for Leonardo, yet again. That was to be expected. His blade was, yet again, blocked by the warrior's sword, keeping on par, or rather, besting him, at keeping the clash at his advantage. In fact, he didn't seem like he was trying all that much. His visible muscles tensed, flexing and bulked just slightly as he applied more pressure to the weight of his sword, forcing his opponent back. Leonardo found this chance to make his move; he quickly inserted an arrow between his fingers, taking aim at Isiaya's torso. With a concentrated sigh, and a mild release of his emotion, the blond allowed the arrow to sail from his grasp, penetrating the air like a blade cutting through water, locking dead onto the target. "Gaauhh!" Isiaya bellowed, staggering backwards. He glared at the arrow and managed to yank it out forcefully, growling.

"You little whelp!" The Begnion mercenary roared as he charged at blinding speed towards Leonardo. "I'll KILL you! You will never see the light of day!" Leonardo's eyes widened with fear. He was going to end up on the receiving end of the sword!

"LEONARDO!" Nolan shouted. "Get out of the way!"

He couldn't. His body was frozen there. Isiaya crouched low, and as if slow motion were intact, he was thrusting his sword up to stab Leonardo from his abdoment to the chest, almost like an uppercut technique. The archer's eyes followed slowly, aghast in horror. This was it. This was the end. He shut his eyes for the inevitable end. "SAY GOOD BYE!" Isiaya roared, the "slow motion" ceasing and his sword struck skyward!

Flesh.

Clank.

His sword tasted flesh and it was sweet. Fresh blood dripped down, patting against the pavement. "Gehehe, now die—huh!?"

However, his sword was not penetrating Leonardo's flesh. The ex-Begnion had somehow moved himself in the way of the archer, being stabbed through the center of his stomach. His own blood poisoned his cream shirt and the backside of his white jacket-like equipment, and also spattered upon Leonardo's own navy blue clothing. His helmet was slashed off in the process, which revealed the rest of his hair. It was blue, but unlike any color of blue anyone has ever seen before. It was eccentric, bright, and seemed to glow, much like Micaiah's silver hair seemed to glitter. Isiaya pulled his sword out and backed away, eye twitching. His target was blocked by this idiot!

"You!" Was all he could shout in rage.

Micaiah and Nolan's eyes widened in even more horror; just how many were they going to lose to this crazy freak? Leonardo was astonished, loss for words. His blue eyes focused on his savior, trembling, shaken up. Why did he do it? "… …Why…?" The archer asked, paling. What was there to gain for this sacrifice?

"It's… all right." The blue-haired warrior said with a light wincing pain. He gritted his teeth together, trying to catch his breath. "I believe… I've been in worse situations before. …Yes…" He didn't know how, but something deep down in his memory, he felt he had been. Somewhere in his life. He turned to Isiaya, glaring as blood fell from his lower mouth. "Is that the best you can do?" What?!

"I… ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!" Isiaya roared. "You're supposed to be **dead**! Wh-who the hell are you!?"

"It doesn't matter now…"

This infuriated Isiaya. His opponents never lived after a fatal blow like that! EVER! This guy had to be bluffing or something! He had to be weak in the knees and would collapse anytime soon. Yes! That had to be it! He would just have to wait it out a little longer, and then he's done for. "_Yes that's all I have to do. Then, I'll kill the other three and earn my prize! Kehehehe! This is all too easyi!_" He grinned devilishly to himself, eying the fool who attempted to fool with fate. "Heh! You're bluffing! You bumbling fool! You will drop dead any second now and I shall kill the rest of these idiots off!" Unfortunately for him, the warrior persisted, stepping forward, his blue eyes narrowed and focused only on him. His hand gripped the pommel of his blade loosely, but his fingers firmly secured it in a holding position. He kept walking toward Isiaya, who backed up slightly. This was unreal!

"I see you don't like it when the odds are against you. That's a shame." The young man stated callously again.

"SHUT UP, BASTARD!" Isiaya bellowed, vertically slamming his blade down angrily on the blue-haired warrior.

The other blocked it with his right wrist, as his half gloves were made out of steel themselves. The death of his blue eyes locked tightly into Isiaya's, soul-piercing and one gaze you will never want to look into for yourself. It was staggering; it felt like something heinous, like a monster, was roaring on the inside, flames burning within them, and staring into them made your body feel as if it was on fire! Such a glare could cause fear into any man with hearts of ice! Isiaya shook the look off and charged the blue-haired youth again. He continuously kept blocking with his armored wrist, following each attack steadily as he read the next slashes before his opponent even coordinated them. He was getting too easy to read.

"Your attacks are too plain. You will never strike me with those blows…" the blue-head stated.

"WHY YOU…! GRRR!" Isiaya spluttered in rage. His next vertical, wild attack barely cut a strand of the blue-head's hair. His next, aimless attack was caught by the fool's hand! "What the—! LET GO YOU IDIOT!"

"…Good bye." Was all the young man said before thrusting his blade's tip into Isiaya's forehead, causing him to drop his sword.

"What… This can't be… I'm in my prime… Not...so easily..." Isiaya uttered out. The blue-head apathetically ran his blade down his body to split the Begnion mercenary asunder. He was dead, and they now had a clear path. But one thing needed to be done; Edward.

"Edward…" Micaiah breathed quietly, watching the color of the brunet's eyes fading and dulling out, his labored breathing diminishing. Leonardo shook from his daze of the unnamed warrior's might and ran to his dying friend's side.

"Micaiah…"

"I don't know if it'll work—" She started but was surprised to see the injured warrior himself approaching. He sheathed his sword, knelt beside the myrmidon's body, and carefully closed his hands around his neck. "Wh-what are you doing?" Before long, a ball of greenish, white light enveloped the young man's hands, as energy flowed from virtually nowhere. This power flowed into him, then ushered in more light into the ball of, what appeared to be, magic. Micaiah was even surprised to feel this power; it rivaled or even surpassed her own powers. Leonardo and Nolan looked with wonder as the light traveled through Edward's body.

"Restore." The blue head whispered, and the magic seemingly obeyed as it gathered in more energy from the young man, traveling through the dying body, healing the wound and restoring his body's health. When the light ended, Edward's body lightly twitched, the color of his skin and eyes returning to normal slowly. He moaned, closing his eyes, feeling absolutely numb. The blood underneath him dried up.

"What…?" Micaiah gaped.

"…Truly…" Nolan wondered.

"I…" Leonardo trailed.

Edward reopened his eyes, sitting up by himself, very slowly. "What just happened? I felt like I was…going to sleep for a very long time." His friends shook from their dazes and hugged him—well Micaiah and Leonardo.

"Edward! You're okay!" The girl cried happily.

"We were worried." Leonardo added.

The brunet simply blinked but shrugged and hugged them back, clueless. "I'm sorry if I worried you then." He looked at Micaiah. "Thank you for saving me."

"It wasn't me. It was him." She nodded to the blue-haired warrior, who Edward was clueless to who it was first.

"Who's he—wait. He's that former Begnion soldier, isn't he?"

"Yes, the very same one." Nolan replied. "He and Leonardo finished off that man that attacked you, then he healed you like Micaiah does. It's almost as if he possess Sacrifice."

"That's odd. I thought I was the only one with such ability."

"You do." The blue-head said, sighing very lightly. "That, which I used, was a healing spell. It is called Restore. As far as I can tell it as strong, if not stronger, than the maiden's Sacrifice."

"I…see…" Micaiah said, then gaped. "Oh! You're wounded! Would you—"

"No. I'm fine. We have to get out of here, or else more Begnion soldiers will come." He stood up, admitting he was a little weak, but kept valiant. The others stood up as well, Edward feeling rejuvenated and brimming with newfound energy.

"Agreed. We have to get moving. Sothe may be waiting for us." Nolan agreed. "Let's head for the marketplace everyone!"

The group proceeded quickly, almost running, with the blue-haired man and Micaiah somewhat behind them. "I want… to know your name. I know you said after we got out of that mess, but I…"

"…Ryu."

"Pardon?"

The blue-haired swordsman turned to her and smiled clearly. "My name. My name is Ryu."

* * *

Aaaand lame-o ending! I'm having Maiden of Miracles as the next chapter. I needed some action in my life. Also, I totally made up the small bit with Leonardo explaining the event of the bandits. And yes, I did break a little fourth wall in here with the Weapon Triangle. It was supposed to be the comedy relief, but I think it was a poor job on my end. XD Anyway, review, fave, follow, whatever! Thanks!


	3. Maiden of Miracles

Had another review; thanks! It is rare to see Breath of Fire and Fire Emblem come together, I agree. I think my stories are…one of a kind. Thanks for believing in me... Guest #1. XD

Thanks for the beta, Chris! I saw it on PB as well. :)

If anyone would like to be my beta reader for the upcoming chapters, don't hesitate to ask. Sometimes Microsoft Office won't catch errors and then everyone blames them on me. XD Also, I don't hate Edward; I love that guy. I just felt he should get hurt last chapter. Lastly, I will say I implemented an element of Breath of Fire IV-ish; the Dragon's Eye, on Ryu. I know he has similar in Breath of Fire III, but oh well! Just because I can! Anyway, without further or do, here is Chapter 3. It may be a little short, but yeah. It was intended to be.

* * *

**Part I:** Silver-Haired Maiden; The Dragon Prince

**Chapter III:** _Maiden of Miracles_

* * *

The group hurried up the steps from the back alleyway adjacent from the church, avoiding the Begnion soldiers that were pursuing them. "Hurry!" Nolan urged, allowing the group to pass him up as he threw his Hand Axe at an oncoming knight. The soldier didn't have time to block or evade, being hit by the attack. The axe split through his unprotected thighs then returning to his grasp. The other gawking soldiers still ran in pursuit, however, some remained with the fallen knight. "They're still behind us!"

Suddenly, Sothe appeared as if from nowhere, noticing his comrades were running off now, having found a way around the Begnion activity. "Everybody…this way!" He called out. The others overheard him, following the thief's directions. Sothe noticed the blue-haired young man in their ranks, and was about to ask who he was. Micaiah shook her head, verbally telling him now was not the time. This irked the greenet a little, but he decided they would worry about that later. Eventually, the group ran down a few more stairs with Begnion troops were hot on their trail.

"They're running to the center of town! After them!" One of the soldiers bellow, his cohorts following behind him.

Down more steps, around more corners and the Dawn Brigade members find themselves heading for the marketplace. "Good work! I see the market." Nolan praised his comrades, "If we can blend into the crowd, they'll lose us, and we'll be free and clear." He suggested. The company all nod, now running into the crowd of citizens, hoping to blend in as carefully as possible. Edward and Leonardo pace their running to a light halt, stopping behind some apple stalls to fake purchase. Nolan stood by another stall, filled with ripe bananas and oranges. Ryu strolled through the market, finding interest in a stall that was carrying fresh, packaged meat.

"Hey, lady!" A young, familiar boy's voice called out to Micaiah, startling her. Sothe stopped with her, taking notice of the brown haired child.

"Nico!" The silver haired mage gasped in surprise.

"They're after you again, aren't they?" The lady from yesterday that had been with Nico asked, concerned.

"Yes, unfortunately they are." Micaiah replied.

"Are you and your friends all right?" Nico asked next, frowning.

"Yes, we're all right, Nico." The silver-head nodded in response. "But, I'm sorry, we really have to go…"

"Oh."

Just as soon as they were about to end their small conversation, the Begnion soldiers were approaching the marketplace, looking around. "Moldy onions! Where'd they go?!" A soldier with a tamed, brown beard questioned, he and his comrades entering the marketplace, searching around the citizens. The Daein townsfolk gasp about, moving away when soldiers brushed past them rudely. This wasn't good.

"They're here." Sothe warned, glaring in the direction of the armored knights.

"Leave the soldiers to us. Go on, now. Get yourselves to safety." An old man, possibly a grandfather, told them urgently. Micaiah was about to protest when the lady spoke up again.

"Quickly—don't dawdle. You must escape. You're our only hope."

"…Thank you so much!" The light mage says, looking towards her companions. "Come on, everyone. Let's go." Nolan, Edward, Leonardo and Ryu all nod, heading off, breaking from their hidden places of blending in. Just as soon as they ran off, a Begnion troop noticed them, easily, no thanks to Micaiah's glittering silver hair, Ryu's spiky, eccentric blue hair, and the fact they were running off was even more suspicious.

"Wait! There they go! Catch them!" He shouted to his cohorts, who advance quickly, only to stop suddenly by the blockading crowd of rebelling citizens. The bearded soldier from before approached his men, wondering why they stopped.

"What are you stopping for?"

"W-well, they…" The answering soldier began but was interrupted by the lady from before.

"You won't get past us! We stand by the Dawn Brigade." She stated firmly, narrowing her eyes.

"That's right! Goddess protect the Dawn Brigade!" Nico said after, very boldly for a child his age. This more or less infuriates the Begnion soldiers, but they remain where they were, loss for words. They couldn't hurt the citizens of Daein, could the?

**Meanwhile…**

The Dawn Brigade continued running, nearing the exit of Nevassa. "Keep going!" Nolan urged the exhausted team, trying to keep them from slowing down. It would be their end if they stopped now. "We're almost outside of the city!"

"Ugh…" Edward complained as he panted.

"W-we have to keep going, or else the townspeople's interference would have been for nothing." Leonardo added, his heart beat accelerating as he strained himself to run faster. Ryu, who had remained silent for a while, was soon beginning to feel the exhaustion himself. He noticed he had yet healed himself from his own wound, and that spotting blood could be found behind him, lightly, with each step they took. That was bad; he was basically leaving a trail for the soldiers to find them!

"_I am an idiot for even forgetting this injury._" He reprimanded himself. At the pace they were running at now, he wouldn't be able to fully concentrate a Rejuvenate spell. "_A simple Heal should do for now until we can stop._" He focused on his lightly building energy yet again, that warm, white glow concentrated on the outline of his hand close to his wound. The magic spiraled from his palm and towards the infliction, closing the wound and drying the blood. Whew. Ryu then noticed he was falling behind the group, and Nolan had paused ever so slightly to check on him.

"Come on! We have to hurry and keep going!" The older man shouted, urging for the newcomer to run faster. The blue-haired warrior nodded, picking up his pace to catch up. However, it wasn't long until Sothe and Micaiah, who had been running as the lead, stopped abruptly. "What's wrong?" Nolan wondered curiously, Edward, Leonardo and Ryu wondering the same.

"Wait! Something terrible is about to happen!" Micaiah told her companions, rushed and exhausted.

"What is it?" Sothe also wondered, watching as the girl trembled slightly, closing her eyes. The silver-haired young woman concentrated just very lightly, as images flashed before her mentally, exposing her to the danger that would soon take place. Ryu stared at her, perplexed. He had heard that the Silver-Haired Maiden was formerly known as a fortune teller, able to see into the future or something to that extent. Is she predicting something? Was it something she sensed? Whatever it was, her face read immediate sadness, and everyone took note of it. Ryu's right eye began twitching ever so slightly; he too closed his eyes, focusing on what was coming. As if his own powers were reading into Micaiah's, images were flashing through his mind; three people were going to get hurt. He could clearly see who it was, and tensed when Micaiah gasped.

"…No! We have to go back!" She quickly turned around, heading back into the direction from whence they came.

"Micaiah!" Sothe hurried after her. It wasn't a second longer that Ryu followed right after them.

"W-wait. Micaiah saw something, didn't she?" Edward asked, panicking.

"It appears so." Nolan answered, also turning around to follow their comrades. "Something horrible might happen like she said! We should join them!"

"R-right." The brunet called after, tired from all the running but told his body to keep moving. Leonardo mimicked his close friend, running beside him as they caught up to Nolan. Sothe, Micaiah and Ryu were, unfortunately for them, way ahead. How did they run so fast? "At this rate, we'll probably never make it!" Edward complained irritably.

"But we have to try!" The blond archer responded sharply. "We can't give up."

**In the marketplace…**

The riot of rebellion continued from the crowd, the people roaring outcries that deafened the soldiers' ears. They weren't going anywhere, and this frustrated the Begnion troops. "What?! You're letting this rabble stop you?! Ready your bows! Nobody defies the will of Begnion!" A row of five archer soldiers line up at the top of the short-way stairs, readying their bows. "Fire!" The bearded commander shouted. His troops grabbed arrow after arrow from their quivers, taking aim at the now scrambling citizens. A young woman with a basket avoided an arrow, a man about in his twenties moved out of the way. Nico turned around frantically, hoping to find some save place to hide while the barrage of arrows rained upon them. As he spotted an open spot for himself, running for it, an unmerciful arrow pierced right through his chest! It felt like in slow motion; the young, Daein child fell to the ground, his eyes agape at the sudden shock, and all nerves of his system rushed to the injury to maintain it. Blood ebbed out of his mouth, and his face read fear. His brain was shutting down to focus on the foreign object that lodged itself into his body.

The Daein townsfolk were aghast, horrified. How dare they! How _could_ they?! "No!" An elderly woman shouted worriedly, her expression angered and full of sorrow. "How could you shoot a child? You vicious savages!" The lady that had been with Nico yesterday quickly ran to his side, holding him within her arms, turning the poor child over and watching the color of his skin pale, his eyes unfocused, and his pulse rapidly declining.

"Someone! Someone, help him, quickly! Please…this child is dying!"

The bearded soldier walked up to them, frowning. "Pay heed! This is what happens when you meddle in Begnion affairs of state. Remember it well!"

"I didn't realize that the Begnion Empire's affairs of state included murdering children in the street!" A man with messy dark hair and wearing blue argued.

"Don't point your fingers at us. We're just doing our job. If you're upset, blame the Dawn Brigade! They made this happen!" The man in red armor declared. The townspeople ignored him, knowing they couldn't do that. The Dawn Brigade never intended for this to happen. They were Nevassa's and all of Daein's hope to liberate the nation. They have saved many lives, they fought for those who couldn't protect themselves, and have done everything in their power to help them. How could they hate and blame their own saviors? The villagers gathered around worriedly as the dying boy was slipping closer to death's call. In that moment, Micaiah, Sothe and Ryu hurried back as quickly as possible, their eyes full of horror as they saw everything.

Nico. The little boy was struck with an arrow, and was dying. Micaiah held the urge to cry, but simply made her way into the crowd. The townspeople gasped as they saw her, wondering why she had come back. They were trying to save her and her friends from being captured, but yet, here they were? This didn't make any sense. "You…" the lady holding Nico whispered softly. Soon enough, Nolan, Edward and Leonardo caught up, catching the attention of the Begnion soldiers.

"It's the girl we're looking for! Call for reinforcements! Surround and arrest every last one of them…!" The bearded commander shouted. Two of his men nodded and ran off to get more soldiers for the task.

Sothe followed behind Micaiah, kneeling down beside her as she neared Nico's unconscious body. By instinct, he removed the arrow from the boy's body carefully but quickly, and allowed Micaiah to do what she came back for. He didn't like her using this ability, but in times like this, it was necessary. The silver-haired girl closed her eyes as energy focused with her closed hands, a bluish-green sphere of magical energy emanates from her. As she concentrated this, the bellowing soldier from before growled out again, furious.

"What's happening?! What does she think she's doing?! Hey, you, step away from that child!"

Unfortunately for him, he was ignored, yet again, as Micaiah brought the energy from her body to Nico's. She simply touched him, and the magical essence swept from her hands into his body, healing his wound completely and revitalizing the boy. Nico regained consciousness almost instantly, opening his young, brown eyes, sitting up as if nothing had happened. The townspeople were amazed, their eyes sparkling with hope as they just witnessed a miracle.

"It…it's a miracle. We've seen a miracle today!" The old grandmother said happily.

"That was Sacrifice…" The man in blue gasped lightly.

"That girl! She must be the Silver-Haired Maiden. Only she possesses Sacrifice!" A young woman states, surprised. Micaiah unfortunately exhausted herself, unable to move. Sothe quietly picks her up and begins running off. He wordlessly nodded to his companions to follow him, and the rest did so. That was the ultimate give-away for them, and now they had to travel away farther than ever to escape. However, Ryu remained, remembering the images he had seen earlier. The terror wasn't done yet. His blue eyes narrowed at the soldiers; they were far beyond any cruel monster he had ever fought before.

"Stop right there! After them! We can't let them get away!" The bearded soldier shouted, but once again, they were blocked by the same crowd of people. Such dedication from the people of Daein, Ryu found. They were so fond and hopeful of the Dawn Brigade that they would put their lives on the line for them. "I would have done the same thing." Ryu thought calmly, remaining where he was.

"We still stand by the Dawn Brigade." The Daein citizen male in blue stated firmly.

"What is _wrong_ with you people?!" The Begnion commander shouted. "Did you hear me?! Clear a path, or you'll end up like that kid!" The townspeople refused to move, staying as still as statues. They would rather die than give up their homeland saviors. As soon as the bellowing soldier had spoken, Jarod catches up with them, having heard word from the two soldiers prior that the Dawn Brigade was nearby, and had rushed over to see for his own self. Unfortunately, all he found were his own men, and a crowd of rebellious people.

"You sniveling idiots! Why are you just standing there?! Give chase. Now!" The general yelled, startling the red-clad soldiers to make clear a path for him. Alder, the knight from yesterday that had been with Jarod, also approached, frowning at the incompetence of these soldiers.

"Yes, sir! We would like to, sir, but…the townspeople are blocking our way." The bearded knight began, lightly paling.

"Oh…I see. The townspeople are blocking your way." Jarod mocked sarcastically, then shouted, "You dullards!" The Halberdier rushed two of the men standing in the crowd, stabbing them with his lance, killing them on the spot. The townspeople gasped in horror at the murdering, standing aside as Jarod glared at them, no mercy in his eyes or heart. Ryu was mortally horrified by such tactics, yet again. This man was heartless, a coward in a warrior's eyes, and it made his blood broil. He was beginning to wonder if all of Begnion's platoons were anything like this savage.

"Clean out those dirty ears and listen to me!" Jarod spoke affront. "You are soldiers, and I am your commander! You will follow my orders promptly and without hesitation. Understand, you useless vermin? Now, move!" He ordered. The saluting soldiers used the cleared out path the townspeople finally made, now pursuing the Dawn Brigade. Jarod sighed in exasperation, glaring. "Unbelievable! If it's not one thing, it's another. Why am I always stuck leading the buffoons?" As the soldiers were hurrying down the path, they stopped again as Ryu voluntarily got in their way yet again.

**Outside of Nevassa…**

"We got away… Thankfully." Nolan said, tired as they stopped, being hidden in the trees.

"Yeah." Leonardo agreed, catching his breath, turning to Sothe. "How is Micaiah?"

"She's all right, just needs a few more minutes of rest." He said, watching the resting girl. A moment of silence rained upon them until Edward perked up, noticing something, or rather, someone, of their group was missing!

"Hey!" He jolted up, alarming his three companions. "We're missing somebody!"

"What?" Leonardo wondered, but it soon grew on him, too. "Oh no! That Begnion soldier that helped us back at the alleyway!"

"How did we lose him? He has blue hair for the goddess' sake." Nolan invited himself in the wondering.

"…Who was he, anyway? Micaiah told me we would ask later, but… You say he helped you? A Begnion soldier?" Sothe questioned them.

"That is correct." The axe user answered. "He approached us as we were making our escape in the alleyway. He praised Micaiah, Edward and Leonardo for them saving Nico and the villagers from bandits. He also said he saw us escaping our base, and that's how he had found us." Nolan paused, letting Sothe absorb the information. "He rid of his armor and fought beside us. Micaiah told us he was trustworthy. We weren't going to doubt her ability, so we trusted him. He saved Edward's and Leonardo's lives back there and even shielded Micaiah from harm."

"…I see." Sothe finally replied. "…If Micaiah says we can trust him, then I will trust him. He is someone to worry about."

"I wonder if he stayed behind to help us escape further." The archer added curiously.

Edward shook his head. "Man, that sucks! And we don't even know his name!"

Nolan closed his eyes, sighing again. "Perhaps if we wait a little longer, he may come around. His eyes read honesty, when I looked into them briefly. He is not the type to simply abandon so quickly."

**Back in Nevassa's marketplace…**

"What the? Who are you!? Move it!" one of the few soldiers roared, sending on alert to Jarod's ears. They weren't that far off, to be honest. The commanding general noticed the spike of blue hair, and those blue eyes. They were a distance apart, but he remembered them. As he recalled that irksome memory, he growled lowly, marching over there immediately. It was that same, rebellious soldier, but he removed his Begnion armor. How dare he defy them! "I guess I'll have to put him in his place sooner than I expected!" The Halberdier spat, his men moving out of the way when he neared.

Jarod glared him down, sneering. "_You_ again. I remember those eyes of yours. You can't fool me, you bumbling idiot."

"Then, you should know, that I am quitting the service to Begnion, and now siding with the Dawn Brigade. I will have no more dealings with your cold, heartless actions." Said Ryu, who simply glared back, unfazed by the superior's height.

"Heh. You think dropping out will save your skin? You've got something else coming for you, kid."

"You can't rid of me. The Silver-Haired Maiden will take you and Begnion out of Daein. I know it for sure."

"That wench is as good as dead when I see her next time. Now move, maggot, or you'll end up like those people over there."

Ryu remained rooted. "I refuse."

"Hmph. Now I see." Jarod sneered again, leering his eyes at the ex-soldier. "I have nothing else to deal with you, worm!" He readied his lance, thrusting it forward at sharpened speed. Ryu saw it coming, evading the piercing strike with little effort, but still was wary. Jarod was extremely talented and trained, and was someone you shouldn't underestimate. The blue-haired warrior stepped back, not drawing his sword for now. "What's the matter, maggot? Can't fight back?!" Jarod shouted, resuming his jabbing attacks, hoping one would stab the annoying, blue-headed worm in his path. Ryu dodged again, however, couldn't avoid being cut lightly in the face by the tip of Jarod's lance. After breaking away, the two glared each other down.

"I see you have improved since you been in our service, boy!" Jarod spat. Ryu said nothing, but looked back lightly with his eyes. He knew his new friends were waiting for him, but with these fools here, they would be caught. He needed to create a diversion somehow! "_Come on Ryu. Think of something…_" He urged himself, watching the Halberdier's movements. "Well?! Not going to make a move? Well, I'll do it FOR you!" The purple-clad man charged towards Ryu, who was still at a loss for any sort of plan to brew. An instance shot him through his mind mentally, and the blue-haired youth readied it.

"_Something is telling me to perform this action. I have no idea what it is, but maybe I will remember it when it's used._" He thought again as magic channeled through his body. Jarod was closing in, that sinister, sadistic smile of a killer on his face. Ryu took this opportunity to move his hand forward, pushing it towards Jarod quickly, forcing the man to duck back. "Lightning!" Ryu called out, the magic of crackling sparks came to his voice, as a bolt of lightning struck down between him and Jarod, also serving as a blinding light to separate them for the time being. Taking this chance, Ryu ran off in the same direction as the group, leaving the marketplace, and overhearing the groaning roars of the Begnion soldiers. It would have to do for now.

It took several minutes for the light to disperse, and when it cleared, Jarod and his soldiers found nothing of that spiky blue-haired whelp! "Damnit! He was only acting as a distraction!" Jarod fumed, growling as he turned to his men. "Find them all!"

"Yes sir!" They saluted, hurrying off in different directions of Nevassa. The general scowled as he made his way back to the castle, still in a fit of rage. How could he have lost them? And that, stupid, blue-headed worm! He got in the way! He was only a diversion for the rest of them! How couldn't he have seen this? "They were playing us for fools! But, next time, they won't get so lucky!"

**The road off Nevassa…**

Ryu kept running, the rapid wind blowing in his face as he rushed off, the thundering of his boots pounding against the ground, his heavy, exhausted and labored breaths and the sound of his racing heart beat were the only sounds he could hear. Everything was tuned out; he needed to concentrate and find the Dawn Brigade. They couldn't have gotten too far from Nevassa. His senses nagged him to stop and head rightward, and thus, he followed his instincts. Something else was telling him to keep going, which mysteriously, he felt a bit of kindred in. The blue-haired warrior found it to be an orange canary bird, who was buzzing around him like a bee. Ryu curiously scratched his head, finding some amusement in the orange avian. It was Yune; she flew off, which perked the young man's interest.

He followed her and lo and behold, he found the members of the Dawn Brigade in a matter of minutes.

"There… you all are." He said, getting everyone's mood up.

"Hey, you're back!" Edward chirped first. "We were getting worried about you!"

"…I apologize. I just wanted you all to get as far away as possible from the city. Those soldiers were hellbent on finding you."

"We're aware." Sothe said, eying him carefully. "I heard you helped some of my friends here earlier. Thank you."

"It's no trouble."

"What is your name?"

The blue-head paused lightly before sighing. "It's Ryu."

"All right then, Ryu." Nolan said, smiling, "I'll give a short introduction of everyone here. I'm Nolan." He turned towards the tall green-haired thief. "This is Sothe," Then the archer, "Leonardo," then the myrmidon, "Edward," and lastly, the resting form of the silver-haired young woman, "and Micaiah." Ryu nodded to each one, soaking in their names and molding them into his memory.

"It is good to meet you all."

"It is good to finally know your name." Leonardo said, overhearing a chirping tweet. "Ah, right. How can we forget? This bird here is Micaiah's friend, Yune. She helps us out as well. She's friendly, too." Ryu smiled as the tweeting bird landed on his shoulder, loving the color of his orange scarf that appeared to match her plump of feathers. "I think she likes you, Ryu." Leonardo added after watching the light scene.

"I do believe she does." The blue-head agreed, sitting down with the rest of them. "I suppose we should wait for Micaiah to awaken."

"Yes. That's what we've been doing." Edward piped in.

Five minutes pass by them, and the evening is rolling in, creating a beautiful sunset in the skies. Edward and Leonardo had gone out to find wood for a fire to build, and Nolan went out to catch some game for them to cook and eat. They would have to survive out in the wilderness now, which Ryu didn't mind at all. Somewhere in his memory, he recalled camping out in the middle of the wilderness with people. He couldn't remember their faces or their names, but he knew they were friendly. "_I wonder why my memory is so clouded. I can't remember anything of what I had been doing before coming to this…place. I don't even know where I am…_"

A light moan alerted both him and Sothe, disturbing the former's thoughts. They turned to see that it was Micaiah; she was finally waking up!

"…Mm…" Micaiah moaned again, her eyes opening to find Sothe and Ryu standing over her, smiling in relief.

"Are you awake now?" Sothe asked, getting a nod from his friend. He helped her sit up, watching as Leonardo and Edward were coming back from fetching for usable sticks. They sat down together, trying to start a fire. "Thank goodness. But, do you see? This is why I told you not to use Sacrifice…" Sothe warned again, closing his eyes worriedly.

"I know. I'm sorry Sothe. But, I couldn't let Nico die. He was in need of my help…"

"We sure showed them in Nevassa, huh?" Edward added, grinning, which soon turned into a light frown. "I guess we can't go back there…not for a while anyway."

"I'm so fond of Nevassa…" Micaiah began, sighing as her memories lightly returned to her. "It's where we all met and it feels like my only real home." She looked at each of the Dawn Brigade members, including Nolan, who was coming back with a few dead rabbits in his grasp. "We will return…someday."

"We will, Micaiah. I know you, and you have a way of getting what you want." Sothe added, lightly smiling.

"Because you're always there to help me get it, Sothe." The mage replied, also smiling. "Everyone is with me when I get something. We will return to Nevassa, all of us." Her eyes eyed Ryu, who had been quiet for a while. "Even you, Ryu." The blue-haired warrior looked up from his mild trance, catching the girl's gaze and laughed lightly. He didn't really belong here, but it was true; they all did meet there, even though the main group had met many months prior. Regardless, he was apart of the Dawn Brigade now, and they had truth in their hearts. They all wanted the same thing; Daein's freedom.

"Micaiah, everyone…" Ryu began as Leonardo finally sparked a flame to grow. "I will stay with you. With the Dawn Brigade. I will help you fight for Daein's freedom, you have my allegiance."

"That's wonderful, Ryu! I'm glad you can be with us!" The light mage said.

"Yeah! Another sword fighter for me to spar with while I'm at it!" Edward added, with everyone laughing afterwards.

"Hey, how about we get these rabbits cooking?" Nolan suggested. "We could all use something to eat about now to regain our loss of energy."

"Agreed." Sothe invited, now taking the bag of supplied food he stored with him out. After dinner was cooked thoroughly, the group ate, sharing light stories and attempted to have a good ole time, despite the dark hours looming over them. They had a big day ahead of them, and it seems as if the Begnion troops weren't going to give up trying to find them. Ryu had to save his tale for later; the fact he couldn't remember anything of himself other than some fractions of it, was horrible. As the night rolled on, and everyone huddled near the burning flame of the fire, Ryu gazed up at the stars, his thoughts drifting. How could he have lost his memory? What was he really before this? How did he end up here? And, why could he only remember his name? There were some spells of magic he could recall, but others were foreign to him. He felt he had vast knowledge and wealth of strength before losing his memory. But, why couldn't he recover it? What…was wrong with him?

"_I suppose I shouldn't try to figure it out, it's all so complicated. The Dawn Brigade is all I have to worry about now. Maybe I will find out more about myself as I travel and fight beside them._"

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Whoo! Chapter three is finally done! Can't you believe it took me 8 hours today to complete it? XD Lol. Also, Jarod is my favorite boss in FE: RD. Seriously. Anyhoots, review, fave, follow what have you! Thanks again!


	4. The Dispossessed - The Power of Magic

Another review from…Guest #1 again! Sweet!

Acreed: Thank you for keeping up with this story. I'm glad I'm able to update this at a reasonable pace for readers and everyone. Thank you for liking and commenting Chapter 3—that was my personal favorite so far as well. As for pairings, I really haven't thought about that. Ryu/Micaiah might be a good one, then again, there's Laura, Meg, Jill, Fiona, Vika and Nailah coming along the way as possible female candidates. Hm…I'll consider your idea. :)

I don't know what possessed me to listen to Pokémon music for some of this chapter, but I guess it helped…Heh.

Anyway, here's chapter 4! Enjoy!

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**Part I:** Silver-Haired Maiden; The Dragon Prince

**Chapter IV:** The Dispossessed; The Power of Magic

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The members of the Dawn Brigade accepted Ryu into their ranks, claiming him as one of their own. They had been walking on foot for a week and half, stopping every night to camp out in the wilderness, Nolan and Sothe went out to catch food while Leonardo and Edward volunteered to get lost sticks and a few stones to build a fire. Ryu usually stayed with Micaiah as her "protection" as Sothe asked him. The first time the green-haired thief asked him to stay with her, this caught the utmost attention of the light mage; Sothe usually stayed with her, but now, he seemed a little trusting? Their first night alone was rather quiet. Micaiah occasionally glanced at Ryu while she petted Yune softly. Ryu would look up to find her staring at him, and the girl would look away quickly to avoid his gaze. Ryu blinked, but didn't bother asking why she was staring at him. He was probably just so odd, being silent and everything.

The second time they were left alone, Micaiah tried starting up a conversation with him, and it ended very quietly; he would leave little to no answers. All of them usually ended with an "I don't know" or "I can't remember" from the blue-haired swordsman.

This evening Micaiah stole yet another glance at him; she felt something kindred in Ryu when she did. He appeared lost, without direction, but deep down, he was probably full of wisdom, experience, and had a true warrior's spirit. Not only that, his attuning to magic was abnormally high for a swordsman. He could heal without any tomes or staves, too. In addition to these qualities he possessed, there was something deeper that Micaiah questioned herself with. It was a hidden power; it was a strong, mighty power that housed great strength and energy. Whatever it was, it dwelled with Ryu and she couldn't get any further with her examination of him. Like the air about him, he was indeed, a mysterious person. For one, why would a caring, charming young man like him be doing in the service of Begnion?

The silver-haired girl was about to open her mouth to ask when the footsteps of her friends returned. Edward and Leonardo were successful in obtaining round stones and fallen branches and sticks. Nolan and Sothe were successful in hunting of a wild deer. The killing of the wild life naturally saddened the mage, but she knew they had to survive; it was for a good cause, to morbidly put it. "Looks like we were lucky this time," Nolan said, beginning to carve the meat out of the dead animal.

"I managed to gather some berries and apples that had been growing when we were out looking for stones and branches." Leonardo said, producing the fruit.

"Oh, thank you everyone. I think this should keep us for awhile until we reach a nearby town." Micaiah said, helping the boys fix the fireplace. Edward grabbed two sticks, rubbing them together rather roughly, attempting to create sparks. However, instead of sparks, he broke the sticks. It was a good thing they collected several extras.

"Edward…" his archer friend sighed, face-palming.

"Well, I tried!" the brunet groaned in irritation.

"…I'll do it." Sothe picked up two new sticks as he chuckled at the myrmidon's attempt. As he was rubbing those to start a fire for the night, Ryu took the moment to look them over carefully; something he hadn't been able to do since he had been in their company. Micaiah was their apparent leader, with Sothe almost like her shadow. Nolan appeared to be the wise "old man" of them, looking over their plans of attack when suggested, sagely. Edward and Leonardo appeared to be the youngest of the group, having equipped themselves for Daein's freedom a year ago, as he was told a few days ago during a light chat. Together, they banded and formed the Dawn Brigade, a group of freedom fighters, hoping to save their country from a power-hungry empire's control. It was simple, like a fairy tale story, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded. Together, they were a small group, and the empire of Begnion was mightier than their combined power. These people shared what little happiness they had together, like a family. Their smiles, their laughter, their memories; everything had meaning to them.

They were inseparable.

Ryu closed his eyes; he felt he, too, at one point had people surrounding him. He had people who really cared about him; his own family. He tried to focus on that small instance he grasped, tried to recall what little memory he held onto, tried to remember their faces and their voices. The images were blurry, but he could recall a faint image of what appeared to be a woman. His clogged memory could see a happy smile on her face, and her eyes—he couldn't tell if they were green or blue—were caring and strong. He also saw white coming from somewhere from her frame. Ryu couldn't make out what it was; what was his memory trying to decipher? Who was this person? Why was it so hard to remember? The sheer pressure of it all was bearing too much for his mentality to handle, and groaned slightly as he slapped his palm over his forehead.

_What is wrong with me? Why can't I remember anything?_

The blue-haired swordsman's eyes opened only half way but widened lightly when he focused the clearer image of his new friends staring at him, concerned written all over their faces. Had he just done something embarrassing? "…I'm sorry." Ryu apologized, still not understanding what was going on. He did notice that Sothe managed to start a fire, taking a seat next to Micaiah.

"There's no need to apologize," Nolan said with a warm smile on his face. "Is there anything you want to share? It seemed like you were having a hard time trying to think of something."

"Were you trying to remember something?" Leonardo wondered.

"Yeah, now I'm curious." Edward chipped in.

Knowing he had unintentionally grabbed the spotlight, Ryu straightened up from his slanted position, trying to piece together what he would say to them. He had been awfully quiet about everything regarding his past—which he still can't recall at all. With a low sigh, Ryu started. "I was thinking. Before I came in, this group is a band of friends, very close friends that you all can be considered a family. I believe I once had that, too. But, as you know, I can't remember." He closed his eyes. "Every time I close my eyes, very faint images appear, but I can't make out who or what they are."

"I don't know if I'll ever remember."

"Don't say that!" Edward voice loudly, frowning. "You'll get it back! You just have to keep trying! We'll even help you! Right Micaiah?" The instant he called her name, the myrmidon turned to her, hoping she would agree. Thankfully for him, she did.

"Of course we'll help!" The light mage said. "Ryu, we'll do everything we can to help you. I would feel terrible if we never tried."

Ryu smiled ever so lightly. "Thank you all. I hope I recover my memory as well. I can't help but feel there is something greater within me than I can imagine." The others partially nod in agreement with him, remaining silent as Nolan put the deer meat over the fire, letting it cook. A bit of silence rained upon the group once again for a good ten minutes before Sothe interrupted it with a question.

"Ryu, I haven't asked yet, but what were you doing with Begnion? Why were you working for them?"

Everyone had their eyes on Ryu once again, especially Micaiah. She was going to ask that, but her 'brother' beat her to it, and she never had the chance to bring it up. "I just need to know why." The green haired teen added.

"Well… I never joined them by choice. I don't know how, but I was apparently unconscious in the grounds of the Begnion Empire when their soldiers found me. Some men in white were talking, and then the next thing I know, I'm in their service. I can't recall all the details, but I'm aware they've taken some of my personal items…Except my swords."

Sothe raised an eyebrow. "Your…swords? That would usually be the first thing they would take away."

"Well, they couldn't touch them." Ryu explained. "But, something odd happened to them. They seemed to have…merged together. I originally had two swords, but they combined into one almost as if it was magic." He scratched his head, looking dumbly. "Sorry if that's confusing."

"It's not; just a little weird to be honest. I've never heard of such a thing happening before." Sothe admitted. "But what's so special about your sword that they couldn't touch it?"

Ryu lightly shrugged, picking up his sheath and slowly drawing his blade. "I'm not entirely sure why. They just couldn't. Maybe…the sword didn't trust them…"

"Sounds like some way to put it." Nolan said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Let me have a look at it."

Ryu gazed questionably at Nolan, as did Leonardo and Edward, though relinquished his sword to the axe man. The bearded man carefully examined the sword; the blade was finely crafted, looking similar to a hybrid Rapier and Long Sword. There wasn't much of a pommel, which rapiers were known to have; it was just a plain grip with an odd decoration upon it. The cross-guard especially had these same designs that looked like the body of a serpent, or similar. There was a simple rain guard beneath the cross-guard, as to be expected. The fuller of the sword was smoothly done, just as the central ridge. Its point was sharp, even though the blade appeared to have been used more times than he had seen its master use it. What was really surprising was the edge of the blade; it appeared to have been glowing, as if it were imbued with magic. Such weapons were common to Tellius, but it seemed like a different design than normal productions of magic-imbued swords.

"It's very different than what I've seen." Nolan deduced. As soon as he spoke this, his hands were growing hot; so hot, it felt as if he had been lit aflame. "Eh!" The older man exclaimed, dropping the blade in reflex. His hands were somewhat sizzling, the weapon itself was mimicking this. Whoa.

"What just happened?!" Micaiah wondered, worried, Sothe, Leonardo and Edward also on alert.

"…That's what I mean. Nobody could touch it without that happening." Ryu said, frowning a bit. He picked up his sword, sheathing it back into its scabbard, his eyes wandering to Nolan in concern. "Does it hurt? Take off your gloves."

"Nolan, are you okay?" The silver-haired mage asked.

"I'm fine, thank you. It doesn't seem to hurt as much now," The axe man replied, slowly removing his gloves anyhow. When he did, his hands were, unfortunately, blackened. "All right, so I was wrong."

"We need to get that mended right away!" Micaiah exclaimed hurriedly, reaching into her satchel to grab a vulnerary.

"Micaiah, wait." Sothe stopped her.

"What?"

"It's a burn. A simple vulnerary won't stop a burn's effect like that."

"Then I'll use Sacrifice."

"No, Micaiah." Leonardo warned. "It will just harm you again, and you know how Sothe gets."

"But—!"

The light argument continued, though Ryu had approached Nolan with one of his palms open over both of the man's hands. A white, glowing light of energy emanated from the blue-haired youth, surrounding the injury and painlessly curing it within the instant. Nolan blinked in surprise as did everyone else.

"Wh-what? You know Sacrifice, too?" Sothe asked rather dumbfounded. He thought Micaiah was the only one.

Ryu shook his head. "No. Micaiah is the only one with that ability."

"Then, what did you just do?"

"I used Cure." Ryu simply replied, watching as Nolan looked at his restored hands, amazed. "It is another healing spell I know. I remember using it when I was in Begnion's service." Ryu sat down again, lightly smiling as he recalled the memory. "A soldier with light green hair, he was working with Begnion, too. He didn't appear to like working with them, but because of merchants picking him up as a child, he had no choice. He was once a true Daein. He was training with a fellow soldier, and was gravely wounded. My sleeping instincts apparently flared up… I couldn't watch him suffer…so I healed him." He stared straightforward, the softness of his eyes made their blue color shimmer with compassion. "I don't remember how I did it, but when the magic came from my hands, I suddenly remembered how to use it from then on."

Ryu's eyes travelled to Edward. "I used Restore, a much powerful healing spell than Cure, on Edward a week ago. In comparison, Cure is very similar to Micaiah's Sacrifice."

"Are you…sure?" the girl asked with Sothe staring hard at him.

"Yes."

Silence swept through them like a breeze from the wind. It continued for awhile until Ryu broke the silence. "I understand healing without any staves is rare but from where I can barely remember, I feel as if it's a natural thing to do."

"So, does that make you a healer?" Edward asked next. "Like, a magic swordsman?"

The blue-haired swordsman looked at the brunet. "I suppose it does if one puts it that way." A chilly, windy breeze blew by them, claiming their fire and diminished it inconveniently.

"Great." Sothe muttered irritably, working on rebuilding the fire.

"Allow me to help you." Nolan said, also grabbing a few, spare sticks collected. After all, their deer meat wasn't all the way cooked. As they were working on that, Edward turned to Ryu, smiling. Leonardo and Micaiah caught onto what would be a conversation starting up again.

"Hey, Ryu. Does your magic include starting fires? You know, can you use fire magic?" The myrmidon asked in a hushed whisper, partially joking.

"I'm…not too sure, Edward." Ryu answered, opening and closing his hands sluggishly while he spoke softly. "There's no point in trying to see, though." Raising one hand, Ryu stared at the palm of his opened hand, at his fingertips. He didn't know how he would be able to pull this off; the first three magic spells he used was because of instinct had led him to using them. He didn't have to truly 'think' about them because they were called to him, almost automatically. _So, I just think about using fire…?_ He wondered silently to himself.

Micaiah, Leonardo and Edward waited patiently to see if Ryu would conquer over the magic of fire, having some doubts, least expecting it to happen, except Micaiah. Something told her the blue-head could pull it off somehow. Her golden eyes focused on him intently, hoping. Ryu continued concentrating on his fingertips, keeping his mind focused on the elements of fire, feeling that tightening, hot energy within his grasp. It was there, he knew it; but it wasn't coming out like his healing spells. Why? Ryu was about to let it slip when he faintly noticed the edge of his fingers were igniting—barely. Micaiah gasped in awe, and Leonardo and Edward could see it as well! The magical essence of flame continued to grow from the blue-head's palm, but soon extinguished itself when he let it go just as quickly.

"Whoa. I didn't think you could pull it off." The myrmidon said, surprised.

"As did I. Ryu, you're extremely talented." The archer added.

"…Thank you, though I wasn't able to hold it for long…" Ryu admitted. However, Micaiah thought differently.

"Got it." Sothe finally said, he and Nolan sitting back triumphantly. The other four looked up from their conversation. They had got the fire back up and burning. What a relief.

"That's great!" Leonardo met their gaze, smiling. "I suppose we can wait a minute or two to let the meat cook thoroughly?"

"About five minutes," Nolan told him, slowly turning the stick holding said meat over to allow the fire's touch.

The others nod patiently, waiting for dinner to finish. The rest of the night went on rather quietly, up until everyone had eaten. Afterwards, Edward invited Ryu for a friendly match against blades, having gone out to fetch more fell branches to create wooden swords from. When they returned with their skillfully carved wooden blades, Nolan agreed to be their "referee". Leonardo, Sothe and Micaiah were their small audience, with the light mage particularly eying Ryu for some reason. She was still unsure of what he was; something in him just told her he wasn't a true beorc. It wasn't just his unusual power, but something else.

"Okay, so what's the whole point of this…?" Sothe wondered, staring with a mix expression of boredom and confusion.

"I believe Edward wants to improve." Leonardo started in light defense of his friend's decision. "Ryu appears to be stronger than him. If he can shape up his experience with the sword with someone who knows the sword, then he'll get better."

"I suppose that makes sense. Edward, don't get yourself hurt too much."

"No problem, Sothe! We're only sparring! Besides, we won't be using our weapons for this." Edward replied, grinning.

"…Then what will you be using?"

"Why, these wooden swords we made, of course." The brunet tossed one to Ryu, who caught it expertly. Edward smiled when he turned to his fellow swordsman, preparing a stance. "I'm ready."

Ryu took note of Edward's position and studied it; he was front face, his right leg before his left, relaxed, with his hands both gripping his wooden sword's pommel lightly, but still firmly locked. It appeared to be a reformed battle stance, something Edward permanently practiced for a long time, he assumed. Ryu quietly nodded to his sparring partner, getting into his simple stance; with the wooden sword held loosely in his left hand, opposite of Edward's. His body was turned partially forward, almost horizontally facing forward. Edward took notice of their differences in stances, mentally drilling it in his memory.

"Well then, let's begin. Come at me." Ryu invited, smiling lightly.

Edward accepted the challenge. "Here I come!"

The brunet rushed for Ryu, leaving his wooden sword's pommel in the care of his right hand, leaving his left open and out, slashing horizontally. Ryu countered with a simple vertical slash, quickly switching to a diagonal attack. Edward saw it coming, backing away swiftly to avoid the attack and returning with an uppercut thrust. The blue-head moved out of the way, meeting Edward's round of fast paced attacks, clashing against their wooden blades. The brunet grunted with every attack he threw against his partner, wanting nothing more than to improve his swordsmanship.

Ryu blocked or dived under Edward's rapid attacks, taking note of every point in his footwork, his increased agility with every blow her threw, and the pace of his breathing. Noticing the brunet was soon running on the rush of adrenaline, Ryu timed himself, finding an opportunity to push Edward away, coming up with a horizontal slash after. Edward grunted again from the push and ducked as the slash came. It missed, but he soon found himself being blown away with an odd force of wind.

"Ah!" Edward groaned, his rear hitting the ground roughly, skidding to a light stop. "What the heck was that!?"

Ryu smiled as he approached his sparring partner, offering a hand to help him stand. Edward took it, getting up, and dusting himself off. "That was just a force of wind from the edge of the sword." Ryu admitted.

"Was that magic? Because if it is, that's totally unfair for me!"

"No, it's not. Rather, it's a force from and impact that is controlled by your body's movements." Ryu answered. "It's very easy to do it and it can give you an advantage in a tough situation. Would you like to learn it?"

Edward grinned, doing a pump fist. "Yeah, you bet!"

-x-x-x-

It had been another, long week since that day, the two swordsman had sparred every night ever since, with Edward getting the "wind force" technique, as he dubbed, down. Well, he almost had it down perfectly. The brunet had been mastering his blade, or rather, wooden blade, with every session against Ryu. Every session, he would not be able to land a hit against the blue-head, and get knocked down within the fifteen minute spar. There were nights when he lasted longer than usual, still coming out as the "losing" end of it. However, Ryu was able to point out a few flaws the young swordsman had, even helping him sharpen his hearing as people can come from nowhere and attack invisibly. Being on guard and knowing your senses was essential to any warrior, especially to a swordsman. Edward's agility increased with every passing spar, becoming more aware of his surroundings and standings.

The upcoming morning reached the Dawn Brigade, and they soon set off, back on the road. "Just a quick half-mark and we'll be in Kisca." Nolan told the group, having been leading the way personally. "I'd like to stock up there, but…"

"Begnion will be on the lookout for us." Sothe added seriously. "Let's steer clear of towns for now, unless we want more trouble."

"Don't tell me… This means another night sleeping on the cold ground with nothing but bugs to keep us warm!" Edward complained, not amused by this fact. He loved sparring with Ryu and improving, but being out in the wilderness was not his cup of tea. Leonardo and Ryu shared a low sigh together at the brunet's complaint, despite he had a point.

"Oh, Edward, it's not that bad!" Micaiah said, smiling. "The forest is so beautiful and serene. I'd almost rather be out here. Right, Yune?" The orange canary chirped her response, agreeing with the silver-blonde completely. Edward just sighed deeply after this.

"I was really looking forward to a decent bed to sleep in." The myrmidon lightly added to his first complaint.

Leonardo turned to his grumbling friend, shaking his head. "But, we really have to stay away from Begnion's eye, Edward."

"Yeah, yeah." The brunet mumbled, walking with his hands behind his head casually.

After their light conversation, the group continued their light trek on the road, remaining on a near solid pathway between several trees. Not a moment later, Ryu stops rather slowly, frowning a bit. His sparring partner noticed and looked back. "Hm? Ryu? What's the matter? Why'd you stop?" The others overheard his voice, curiously turning around themselves, stopping.

"Someone's following us." The blue-head examined carefully, keeping his body straightforward.

"What? It can't be Begnion soldiers, could it?" Nolan asked, growing concerned. Ryu responded with a shake of his head.

"No…someone with a kind heart." He replied. He barely turned around to hear rushing footsteps behind them. Coming into view was a young woman, possibly around Leonardo's age, looking exhausted and worried. She had short black hair that covered her ears, soft brown eyes, fair skin, and wore cream-white robes, carrying a staff that wrote her off as a priest or someone from a church. She smiled when she caught up to the group, panting when she slowed down to meet them.

"Ah…Um…excuse me." The dark haired girl pardoned herself for the light intrusion, standing up to her normal height after a short break to catch her breath. "Are you people heading into town by any chance? O-our abbot is ill and he needs medicine." She sadly looked downcast when continuing. "But Begnion soldiers are hoarding our provisions in the manor house… We really need that medicine. I-I was wondering if you people can help us?"

Sothe and Micaiah exchanged looks before the silver-haired girl nodded to the priest. "The Dawn Brigade is at your service! I'm sure we can help you and your abbot."

"A-are you sure?"

"We are. Come on. I know the way to the manor. Everyone follow me." Sothe said, taking off down the road. The rest of the Dawn Brigade, with the girl included, followed after him. The road ahead was quite bumpy and rocky, so much, the girl stumbled after awhile and was about to hit the unforgiveable, hard ground. Fortunately she was caught by the ever quick hands of Ryu, who saved her inches before she fell flat on her face. "O-oh!" the girl stammered, feeling the safety of the strong hands that had caught her. She looked up, staring right into the gentle, brave cerulean eyes of the blue-haired swordsman. She found herself blushing for some reason, nodding her thanks.

"Thank you, kind sir."

"It's no trouble." Ryu replied, releasing her once she had a firm standing.

The girl bowed politely, the reddening of her cheeks blossoming brighter. Ryu chuckled inwardly when noticing her flushing expression. He had known it too well, though decided not to poke interest in it, for her sake. As they hurried along to catch up with the others, the lady priest spoke, "I forgot to say, my name is Laura. It is nice meeting you."

Ryu nodded. "It's nice meeting you as well, Laura. My name is Ryu. The others up ahead, Micaiah is the one with the silver hair, Sothe is the one with green hair, Edward is the one with the sword, Leonardo is the archer, and Nolan, the oldest one." Laura glanced at each one when their names were spoken, absorbing it and their appearances in her mind.

"Thank you." She said simply.

-x-x-x-

The group eventually reaches the outside of a well guarded manor up ahead, having strayed away from the town and headed straight for their destination. It was, no doubt, Lord Kisca's manor. Sothe made sure they were safe, having led them into a hidden opening to hide them from being seen by soldiers. "Sothe, do you know the layout of the manor?" Micaiah asked the thief, who responded with a light nod.

"I was here years ago. As I remember, there's a large armory tucked deep inside the building. And if I understand correctly, Begnion soldiers guard valuables they've stolen—from rare objects to necessary supplies—in that armory." Sothe replied, recalling a little portion of his memory.

"Then the medicine will be there, too." Micaiah replied.

Laura blinked, looking at the two, wondering. Are they serious? They would risk their lives for someone else? Not only that, but someone they didn't even know? She just had to know for herself. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Of course not! Danger is part of our work." The light mage insisted. "Leave everything to us!"

"Your abbot will have his medicine." Sothe added. Hearing this, Laura beamed in happiness. Their words were so sincere and bold; they just had to be the most helpful bandits she's ever known. What a lucky stroke for her!

"Oh, thank you so much! Good luck…to all of us!" Laura said cheerfully.

"We'll get the medicine back no problem!" Edward grinned, spinning his sword expertly then catching it by the pommel. Leonardo rolled his eyes, muttering something that said "show off". The brunet heard that and frowned, however, didn't reply to it verbally.

"I'll come with you." The staff-user insisted, smiling. "I'm sure I'll be of use in some way! I want to help!"

"Sure thing, Laura! Let's be careful!" Micaiah told them, turning to Sothe. "Sothe…?"

"I'll be sneaking in the back way. I'll lead the front gate soldiers away, allowing you all to sneak in through the front." The thief stated, nodding to his group as he left. The others waited patiently as Sothe accomplished his first task; they overheard of shouts of "get that thief!" from the distance, their thundering footsteps carrying with them. The plan was in action! Micaiah turned to her friends, waving for them to follow her as she led them inside the unguarded front entrance.

The inside of the manor was beautiful, however, where the Dawn Brigade was heading, it was a simple, large room. Red carpets decorated large floors, and tall, torches stood in many corners of the building, lighting the way. There was a simple walkway that led to a few stairs leading up. The horizontal path was blocked off by a black gate, which was broken only on the right hand side, exposing a climbable ledge. The same held true for the "first floor", where coming into this room, was a ledge. There were exits on the left and right, and a pathway heading for two chests, down another ledge. Across from the chests was another set of stairs, turning right would lead to a closed door, the armory, and the further end of the room, was a small section.

There, was another chest, and a man with heavy armor was positioned there, appearing to the treasure contained within it. He had rough, brown messy hair, adorned in the red, Begnion armor proudly.

Once inside the dimly lit manor, the group quietly advances, cautious of soldiers possibly being in the building. Nolan walked ahead of the others like he did weeks prior, planning to secure a path for them while the others mopped up afterwards. The older man peeked around a corner, noticing a soldier with his back turned, had been stationed inconveniently by a doorway. Great. Nolan quickly backed the group up, whispering a hushed "shhh" for them to stay quiet. They nodded, and the axe wielder peeked around the corner again, his Hand Axe equipped. Carefully eying the direction of the soldier, Nolan drew his arm back then tossed the boomerang-like weapon straight for his target! The axe struck the buffoon at his exposed neck, felling him.

When the axe returned to Nolan, he quickly cleared the blood off its edge, waving for the others to follow him. Ryu and Edward dragged the dead body of the soldier away and out of sight whilst the remaining group carried on through the opened, lack of a door, path. They soon encountered another soldier, who was equipped with a lance as well! He saw the intrusion and hurriedly ran off to warn the others—so he thought. Micaiah stopped him with a light spell and Leonardo shot him through the unprotected leg area, making him fall down.

"I think that should do it. He won't be getting up anytime soon." The archer said.

They bypassed the fallen soldier, who was groaning in pain, trying to pull the arrow out of his leg, to no avail. Ryu watched from the corner of his eye, though remained silent when he passed him. He would be all right, and survive. Besides, if he healed the soldier, what would the others think?

-x-x-x-

"Hey! You there! Stop!" Another pair of soldiers bellowed through the hallway, which had two pillars of concrete to keep the manor from collapsing. One was armed with a sword, the other armed with a bow. Edward and Leonardo grinned at one another, heading for their likely counterpart opponents. The enemy myrmidon frowned when the brunet was approaching him, quite quickly to boot. "I suppose you want to die that badly!" He snorted rudely.

"Heh, not exactly." Edward shrugged, "You're no match for me, so you may as well stand aside before you get hurt."

"And allow you and your friends to run wild? Not a chance, you thieving wretch!"

The Begnion swordsman charged for Edward, his sword's grasp was tight, gripping the pommel as if it were a life-saving rope. Edward took notice of this, having lightly predicted what his opponent will do next. He slashed vertically with his sword, the brunet simply clashing his horizontally to block the attack effortlessly. This enraged the foe to grind his teeth, pulling back and attempting to thrust his sword forward at a slanted tip. Edward sighed, easily evading the attack by side stepping.

"Can't you do any better than that?" Edward half taunted.

"Grr! Why you!" His opponent growled furiously. "Take this!" He lunged forward with a horizontally at quickened speed. Once more, Edward dodged by rolling backwards, laughing sarcastically.

"No seriously, is that it? A kitten could do better!"

"You sniveling little—!"

"Hey, name calling won't get you anywhere." Edward continued taunting playfully.

The frustrated myrmidon charged Edward again, their swords clashing against one another, creating light sparks that could start a fire if it wanted to. This back and forth sword dance of slashing continued on, with the Begnion soldier growing tired and Edward not even breaking a sweat. With all that training with Ryu, his endurance level increased and it was paying off. "Tired?" The brunet taunted again.

"Sh-shut up, brat! Stop mocking me! GRRRAAAAAHHH!" The man lunged forward again, aiming to lop Edward's head off. The Dawn Brigade sword-user just chuckled, stepping forward once and swung his sword in feign play, creating the impact of force to blow him a distance, very similarly to how Ryu had done to him in their first sparring practice. The Begnion idiot gaped in mystified horror, wondering what had just happened. He was…blown away? By what!? "Wh-what the hell?! What did you…?"

"A special technique I learned from a friend, that's what. But, this really won't matter to you in a few seconds."

"What!?"

Micaiah was behind Edward, a light sparkling in her right hand as she spoke a familiar chant. She twirled elegantly, her silvery hair following her, casting the spell upon the Begnion soldier. He gasped faintly, shielding his eyes from the brightness of the magic attack. Unfortunately for him, that was his last move; Edward advanced swiftly, blade in hand loosely, and using his unoccupied left arm to shield his eyes whilst moving forward. He performed one, diagonal slash on his foe, rendering him from life. The cut was dead, having slain through his protective armor padding. He only uttered a grunt before allowing death to take him.

"Heh, that was great. We sure showed him." The brunet laughed, the mage nodded lightly.

"I still prefer if we don't kill them, though." Said Micaiah with concern in her voice, "I know it can be unavoidable at times, but really…"

"Yeah, I get it. If some can be spared, they will be. But if things get tough, we'll have no other choice." Edward explained after, mulling a little. After a quick moment of silence, the two friends hurry off to assist the others.

-x-x-x-

Leonardo hid behind a pillar, avoiding an arrow shot at him from his own opponent, who was armed with an Iron Bow. He winced ever so slightly, watching carefully every movement the other archer made. He was shooting arrows at Leonardo, nearly managing to inflict damage on him, should he have not dodged and ducked down behind a pillar for cover. "You can't stay there forever, boy!" The enemy archer bellowed smugly. When the flight of arrows stopped, the blond took the opportunity to ready an arrow for himself, turn around the pillar's corner, and fire them off at his opponent. Leonardo's precision with the bow was remarkable, and proved itself worthy when the other was nicked in the left thigh, the arrow jarring deeply into his leg. The man groaned, gritting his teeth and he allowed his guard down.

His nerves reacted to the wound, his unoccupied hand rushing to it instinctively. Leonardo took this opportunity to spin around the pillar lodging an arrow mid-spin with his bow skillfully, and fire it to the man's forehead. He screeched in pain, eyes nearly blowing out from their sockets as the foreign object known as the arrow sunk deeply through his head, causing malfunctions of his brain. He didn't last another second; Nolan ran up to him and kicked the arrow deeper into his skull, making him collapse and fall dead.

Edward and Micaiah caught up with them as soon as Nolan finished off the archer. "So far so good, but it's only a matter of time until they figure out we're here." He told his friends, "Just stay careful and remember to take them out one at a time."

"We remember, Nolan, thank-you." The light mage replied, looking around curiously for a brief moment. She lightly gasped when she came to a sudden realization! The others wondered, clueless to what the matter was.

"What's wrong, Micaiah?" Leonardo asked patiently.

She turned to her friends with her worry still clinging. "Where are Laura and Ryu? Have you seen them?"

"Oh," Nolan blinked, chuckling. "I saw him head that way." He pointed towards another passageway leading down a ledge. "I believe Laura followed him. I will say, we should stay as a group, but splitting up gives us more of an advantage."

"Then we should do that if it gives us an edge." Micaiah agreed, her worry easing slightly.

"Good. Micaiah, you come with me. Edward and Leonardo, you two stay together. We'll take opposite directions from here. Micaiah and I will head right, you boys take the left. Don't rush the enemy and watch each other's backs, got it?"

"Yes." Micaiah agreed.

"Understood." Leonardo agreed as well.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Edward added lastly, grinning. With his best buddy Leonardo with him, they were practically unstoppable.

"All right, then. Let's move!"

-x-x-x-

"Sir Zaitan!" A foot soldier exclaims aloud, hurrying to the heavy armored knight's presence. The taller man glared when his soldier came into the small chamber he had been occupying, wondering why this ignorant fool would disturb his peace suddenly.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Er…y-yes sir. We got word there are thieves in the manor! We don't know what they're after, but they came in and wiped out a few of our men."

"WHAT?!" Zaitan bellowed angrily. "Intruders, you say?!" He stared aghast—no—appalled. He had personally trained his common soldiers and they were as good as they come, but being killed by a bunch of untrained bandits? This was an outrage! "What with a full battalion stationed here? Are they are mad?! The gall! And the intrigue!"

"Sir…?"

Zaitan rose up, fuming, looking at all his men in the chamber with him. "Now, listen up and listen well, my men, I want you to catch 'em midstream and filet 'em like fish!" He growled, his soldiers saluting before taking off. Zaitan took up his Javelin, and placed his helmet on for future protection. "How dare anyone try to infiltrate this place while under my control? They will pay for their grave mistake!" The armored knight had a strange feeling he would have to cut a few of them down with his lance himself, should his men not do the job.

"Let them come. Hehehe. They won't get very far."

-x-x-x-

Ryu had slightly disappeared from the group earlier, having noticed someone hiding behind what appeared to be a tall, black gate blocking their path off when they had entered the manor. While rushing to where the Begnion soldier had been waiting, he had an eerie feeling he had been inside a manor before. He couldn't quite understand it, but it was similar._ I suppose it's my gut telling me this._ He thought, _And it's usually right on the money. Perhaps it is a lost memory I need to recover. Hmm._ Ryu washed his thoughts away as he neared the armed lance-user, unsheathing his sword in the process. The Begnion knight blinked, turning when he heard a sound, and finding the blue-haired swordsman!

"What the!? Who are you! How'd you get in here!?"

"It's simple, really." Ryu answered rather vaguely. "Now you have two choices; one, you can fight me and possibly lose your life, or two, retreat and I spare you. Which one will it be for you today?" He tilted his head, passively staring at the man, who was now shaking. Ryu deduced the man was shaking in light fear, seeing as he threw on an intimidating look beforehand.

"…" The soldier dotted quietly, unable to decide. He valued his life, yes. He had sworn himself to Begnion's service. He had devoted his life to the empire. But to foolishly charge into a fight you know you can't win would be a waste. Ryu noticed the soldier was contemplating over his choices and over other things that mattered to him. Would he be one of those soldiers that listened and left? There was a chance, however, there was also a chance he would challenge him anyway.

"Ryu?" Laura lightly interrupted with her soft voice, clinging to her staff as if a life saving pole. The blue-haired young man turned to face her, wondering why she had followed him. Wasn't she supposed to be with Micaiah?

"Laura?" Ryu called her name, and then growing wide eyed. A man with a lance was just behind her, advancing towards her, unaware! "Laura, move!" He shouted his warning. The stave-user blinked, her instincts telling her to turn around, and when she did, there was the soldier charging for her!

"Aahh!" The black-haired girl cried in fear.

"Die thief! Take **THIS**!" He roared, grinning madly, thrusting his battle pike forward to pierce through her frail flesh. Laura's eyes shrunk to the size of peas, stunned on the spot. The tip of the lance barely cut a thread of her clothing when the man stopped mid-strike. His face was frozen on that mad smile for only a few seconds, then he screamed when his body recognized it had been…on fire! He rolled around in agony, flailing about uncontrollably as he attempted to stop-drop-and-roll, a classic instruction to all soldiers and known mankind to use when on fire, and their method of putting it out. The method wasn't working, the on-fire man realized, now crying for his dear life. His skin grew dry, peeling off as the flames licked them; his clothes were burning off, and his armor melted and crunched together due to the pressure of the heat upon them.

There was no doubt this man was in excruciating pain. Laura watched, horrified by the flaming cruelty before her and instinctively looked around, slowly, for the person responsible for such. Her eyes soon found the burning fingertips that belonged to a man's right hand. She followed it downward, noticing it was attached to an armored shoulder pad, tracing it down further to a familiar orange scarf and that spiky, wild, eccentric blue hair. She gaped, hands clapped over her mouth when she realized it was Ryu's doing! The man standing near him was appalled, trembling with even more fear than he had. This person—no—this blue-haired boy, had just used some form of magic without using a tome!

"…R…Ryu?!" Laura breathed out in utter shock.

His eyes snapped out of whatever trance he was in, lowering his arm down, the fire dispersing slowly when he did. He had done it again; his emotions reacted to the magic power that dwelled within him, and lashed out. He hadn't meant to use magic at all, but his fear of being unable to reach Laura in time drove him to an unspeakable rage, consumed by his inner essence of energy. That energy reacted to his nerves, and took the form of the blazing flames he believed he once knew, and caused an explosion of a windy flame attack of magic on the soldier. The soldier who had dared attacked an unarmed woman with her back turned. He was a coward, full of himself, and Ryu had to stop him! There was no other explanation.

"…I…I don't know what came over me…I'm sorry…I…"

"You _monster_!" The man from behind Ryu roared in fury, growling. His mind was made up; to see one of his allies burn to death by this, whoever this was! Mage-swordsman or whatever, he was not going to get away with this! The soldier reared his lance back, and thrust forward! Laura cried out again, Ryu quickly turned around to meet the attack. His evasion barely scraped against his protected gloves, causing a light spark between the iron of the attacking man's lance and the steel padding of the gloves. Ryu backed off, knowing he didn't have much elbow room to utilize for dodging.

"R-Ryu, be careful!" The lady priest called to him.

"You mercilessly slaughtered one of my friends. I will make you pay, you disgusting freak!" the soldier spat hatefully, charging again, lance gripped tightly, eyes narrowing on his target. "I won't let you get away with this!" Again, he reared his arm back, once more thrusting his iron lance forward to strike. Ryu empathized with this man's loss, and couldn't bring himself to kill him, despite he wanted him dead. The blue-haired youth moved his body out of the way again as much as the room could offer him space, rotating around the soldier and elbowing him hard upon his unprotected backside. The Begnion soldier coughed, spitting saliva upon the floor from the impact before going down on his knees and hands helplessly.

"Y-you!" He growled, his angered eyes glaring spitefully at the strange boy that stood behind him. However, instead of continuing his assault to finish the soldier, Ryu simply walked away, climbed the ledge and nodded quietly to Laura.

"Let's go…" the blue-haired sword-user told her, leading her away from the scene.

"Wait!" The angered soldier called, spluttering more saliva and hints of blood speckled, "You're not going to finish me off? That is a mistake in the eyes of a soldier, as a warrior, as a man! You would turn your back on someone who has tried to kill you?!" Ryu simply stopped, Laura blinked, noticing he had looked down for a brief moment, possibly to collect his thoughts. He took a deep breath, shaking his head, turning his body halfway for his eyes to meet the unsolved rage of the other's.

"I have no quarrel with you…" Ryu began, "And, I empathize with your pain. I have no desire to take a life of a man—anyone—who has wavering thoughts about their actions." He turned his back to him, once again walking away. "Live your life to the fullest." With this, he led Laura away, having a hard time peeling the image of the charred soldier's body out of his head. He had a feeling this would haunt him for a long while. A long, moment of silence passed between the girl priest and Ryu, who kept his eyes open for any dangerous assaults. Laura blushed again, looking down and smiling.

"Ryu… Thank you for saving my life, and for sparing that soldier's life, despite his actions. The goddess has truly blessed us with a kind person such as you."

The blue-head's cheek tinted a light shade of pink to her comment, and was glad to brush it away before she noticed. "Thank you and you're welcome, Laura." However, the mention of a goddess irked some random tension in his body. Goddess? What goddess? That was oddly familiar sounding to him; hadn't he known one somewhere before? _Why can't I shake this feeling I have away? My skin is getting the goose bumps now. Don't I…know a goddess? It sounds awfully familiar…but I can't remember…_ Ryu sighed again, trying to drown his previous thoughts out. What were the chances he knew a goddess? Was it pure coincidence that he should know, or had known, and the fact there was one apparently having guardianship over this land? What a strange oddity of facts—if they were true.

The two soon found the appearing forms of Edward and Leonardo approaching them, having cut down another swordsman of the Begnion troops. They joined forces, now heading down the hallway together.

-x-x-x-

The creak of a door opened cautiously, and peeking out was a head full of green locks, belonging to none other than the thief, Sothe. He accomplished his stealthy mission, having pick-locked the door to the armory with ease. His pale, golden eyes carefully looked in both directions, noticing a scurry of fighting sounds echoing across the hallways; he knew his friends and Micaiah were battling the Begnion soldiers that had holed themselves in the manor. "That takes care of the locks. Now, I just have to figure out how to get everybody safely up here." He said to himself quietly, now exiting out of the armory, his stiletto dagger in hand. A few Begnion soldiers gawked at his sudden appearance, backing away, their lances pointed forward.

"Hey, you! How did you get in here?!" One shouted, nearly repeating what a soldier had said prior.

Sothe shot them a glare, frowning. "We are the Dawn Brigade. We go where we please. We're here to reclaim what you've stolen from the people of Daein." The thief lightly twirled his dagger in his right hand, drawing out a throwing knife with the other. The red-clad soldiers growled in anger, foolishly charging at Sothe head on. Sothe rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Idiots." He hissed under his breath, expertly taking out one by throwing his knife at his face, making him utter a simple groan, falling to his end. The second knight raged as he thrust his lance at Sothe—whom dodged—then met his blocking dagger with a second, horizontal attack.

"You can't win." Sothe told him straight, kicking the man away, rushed up while he was stumbling backwards, and slit his throat with his third, hidden dagger he unsheathed. The man fell to his death, blood poisoning the nice red carpet of the manor. Sothe retrieved his throwing knife, cleaning both it and his third dagger's trace of blood from the soldiers. That went rather smoothly, and took little effort. "Now, to find Micaiah and the others."

-x-x-x-

On the opposite side of the manor, Jarod and his trusted partner, Alder, were discussing a few plans when all of a sudden, a soldier barged in uninvited. The purple-clad Halberdier scowled when his man rushed in, glaring when he neared. "What do you want, that you must barge in rudely, soldier?"

"S-sir! There are burglars on the loose!" The Begnion soldier stammered, panting. "S-several young men and women have broken into the manor house!"

"What!?" Jarod fumed, but then had a faint thought. "Did you say women? What… What color is their hair?"

"There are two girls. One has bizarre silver-colored hair, and the other—" The soldier began, but was cut off.

"The Silver-Haired Maiden!" Jarod hissed, scaring his man. "What about the men? Their hair colors? Now!"

"Y-yes. A few of them reported was a man and boy with brown hair, another with blond hair, another with green hair and another with this eccentric blue hair—" He began again, but Jarod, once again, cut him off.

"Ah! That blue-haired maggot that I owe so many things for! Ha-ha-ha! This is just my lucky day!" The Halberdier general laughed sadistically. "Hm, very well. I want all soldiers on hand. Capture the girl…alive. I also want that blue-haired freak with her, in chains! Do what you will with the others, but bring me them to me! Understand!?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The Begnion soldier saluted, rushing out of the room to alert his fellow soldiers of their new orders. Once he was gone, Jarod smiled devilishly at his partner.

"I think it's time to meet the sheep we've lost, my friend."

"Heh-heh, very well, General Jarod."

-x-x-x-

The group eventually met where Nolan had told them to two hours prior; having demolished nearly all the soldiers, save for the one Ryu spared thirty minutes ago. They eventually caught up to Sothe, who was ransacking the treasures of the place for their own needs. One of the treasures held a light tome called Thani, which was written in the old language that only Micaiah could understand. It appeared to work only on heavily armored knights, and seeing as most would have flocked from this manor, it seemed reasonable. During the short break they took, Laura used her healing staff to mend a light wound on Edward's leg and Nolan's face, smiling when their treatment was done. "There!" She chirped proudly.

"Thank you, Laura." Nolan said, smiling.

"I feel better, thanks!" Edward thanked after.

"You're very welcome." The girl staff-user replied cheerily.

"We're all good, now? I've opened the armory and there was medicine in there." Sothe reported to his group, looking at Laura in particular now. "I was unsure which kit you needed for your abbot, so you may have to find the correct one."

"I see. Okay then. Thank you so much."

"Follow me." Sothe began, beginning to lead the way.

"Stop right there!" A male's voice boomed at the group, making them halt in their place. They turned to see it was a man in the usual Begnion armor, a knight in particular, with two archers at his side. "Don't move a finger, thief, or I'll skewer you with my lance and serve you for lunch!" Sothe scowled under his breath, standing in front of Micaiah protectively, Nolan narrowed his eyes as the tips of his fingers were inching towards his Hand Axe. Edward and Leonardo went on guard, and Ryu instinctively moved in front of Laura in the same manner as Sothe did for Micaiah. Zaitan's eyes roved over the thieving people, soon spotting the sparkling silver hair of a girl, and the blue-haired wretch his general wanted so badly. He recognized them from his new orders and leered.

"The Silver-Haired Maiden!" He scowled her title—Sothe glaring at him—and then meeting the blue eyes of Ryu, "And the blue-haired maggot! I've got you both! Hmph! Lucky for you two, Jarod wants you both alive—but there's no escaping now!" Ryu and Micaiah stole a fair glance at one another, keeping on their guard, but not so worried.

"I'm afraid I have to disappoint you." Micaiah stated.

"Oh, how pompous! Try to "disappoint" me, and I'll break both your arms!" Zaitan snarled, rearing his lance back and throwing it straight for Sothe! The entire group reacted, moving out of the way when the lance soared past them.

"Careful! He has a Javelin!" Nolan warned.

"Javelin?" Ryu repeated, clueless. It looked like any ordinary lance to him, so what was so special about them?

"A javelin is a lance especially made for throwing." The bearded Brigade member explained. "It's a tad easy for beginning soldiers to use, but once they've mastered it, they can throw it at incredible distances and unmatched speed. They're dangerous in the hands of the wrong, skilled people."

"Wonderful." Ryu replied, sarcastically complimenting the weapon.

"Heh, you won't get far by standing there, you dolts! Men! Capture that boy and the maiden! Kill the others!" Zaitan roared his command at his remaining archers. The two nod, heading straight for the group, their bows prepared. With mastered precision, the two bow-users lodge an arrow each into their bowstrings, rear it back and fire at the Dawn Brigade. Leonardo widened his eyes, nearly being hit yet again, had Edward not pulled him out of the way. The second arrow sailed past Sothe, who pushed Micaiah from the line of fire. The arrow's tip scraped against his unprotected shoulder, scarring just lightly. The greenet winced a bit, but shook off the margin of pain easily. He would not let it bother him.

"They have Steel Bows!" Leonardo warned his companions, hurrying to lodge an arrow into his own bowstring. Edward ducked under another arrow, advancing towards one of the Begnion archers. Sothe managed to deflect an arrow aimed at his head with the flat side of his dagger, avoiding another by back-flipping flawlessly. Laura squeaked when Ryu pushed her out of harm's way, an arrow sailing past him as well, though not before scraping his left cheek and cutting a few strands of his hair off. Nolan used the bulk of his axe to deflect an arrow aimed for his abdomen, frowning. These archers were skilled, fast, and they were out for blood. Why was this Jarod person so hellbent on destruction?

"Gah-hah-hah! You fools won't get past them easily! They are exceptionally trained and you're nothing more than dogs begging for scraps with your weapons!" Zaitan blared a loud, laughing.

"Oh shut up! That was the weakest insult you could ever throw at us!" Edward shot back, infuriating the armored knight.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, BRAT?!"

"You know what I said!"

"KILL THAT WORM!" Zaitan fumed. The two archers quickly switch from firing at everyone, targeting the young myrmidon in their ranks. Two arrows flung from their grasp, intent on hitting their mark. Edward grimaced, but held his confidence. He stepped forward with one foot, crouching just slightly and swung his sword forward feigningly, creating the impact of wind yet again to blow the arrows off balance mid-air, deflecting them. Zaitan growled upon seeing the boy still standing. "What the hell!" He blared.

"Nice try!" Edward taunted.

The myrmidon's actions allowed a sparingly amount of time for Nolan, Leonardo and Ryu to advance and kill the archers. Nolan chucked his Hand Axe at the armed soldier to the left, amputating his unprotected left arm that held the bow. The soldier hollered in pain, ultimately being finished off by Nolan's Steel Axe cutting him across his chest, shattering his weak breastplate and shoulder armor. Leonardo quickly shot an arrow at the right archer's eye, making him cringe and groan unintelligently. Ryu swept him off his feet with a low kick, and then drove his sword home through the man's neck, ending him as well. There was only one left; Zaitan.

"Looks like you're alone." Edward chuckled. "You lose."

"What the! My men!" Zaitan realized, glaring at each one of them in the group standing before him. They were just measly intruders! They weren't trained like his men were! How could they have gotten this far?! "You'll pay for that!"

"We've heard that line before…" Sothe sighed in annoyance. "Micaiah, it's now or never."

"Right!" the light mage nodded, opening the pages of new tome, Thani. Zaitan's eyes widened when she began reading, the tips of her hands becoming alight with the glow of magic. No! He couldn't let her—this wench—best him! He still had his orders from Jarod!

"No you don't!" the gruff knight bellowed, storming towards the chanting mage with his Iron Lance. Sothe intercepted his path, blocking his strike with his daggers, keeping him at bay in a tussle of power. "Move, brat! Or you shall be skewered!" Zaitan growled at Sothe, who remained rooted in place. This bought more time for Micaiah; she looked up from her page, having familiarized one of its main spells, twirling with the light magic blooming from her palm and directed it at Zaitan! The man's eyes widened again as he saw the impending attack. He pulled away from Sothe's block, shielding his eyes from the massive brilliance of light magic, which struck him as well. It melted his armor, crushing him within it similar to how fire does.

He gagged, choking on his breath, succumbing to defeat, crumbling down to his knees. He spluttered forced up blood from his stomach, eyes enlarging out of their sockets. The power of light magic, was truly formidable. "With this many, we…couldn't…hold them back…Call…for…rein…force…ments…" Zaitan muttered under his breath before falling to his inevitable doom. Silence rained on the Dawn Brigade for a long while after the man in charge had fallen. It was over now.

Sothe led Laura to the armory, allowing her to thoroughly check through the medicine kits that were stashed and stored in there. Her eyes sparkled with delight when she spotted one kit in particular, quickly rushing to it and picking it up. "At last…Glory be! The abbot will finally have this medicine." She said happily, closing her eyes. "Wait for me here, I'll return soon!" The girl called out to her friends, running out of the armory, excited. Micaiah and her friends smiled warmly, knowing they had done yet another good deed.

That was their whole plan as the Dawn Brigade; to help those who needed it, to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, and save their country: Daein.

* * *

I know, long chapter. I'll be combining the end of The Dispossessed with A Faint Light next chapter. Leave a review if you want! Thanks for reading! See ya next chapter! :)


	5. A Faint Light - A Flash of Power

Got two reviews! Huzzoh!

Arcreed: I just realized I misspelled your name on the last chapter! Whoops! I'm so sorry for that. Thank-you for your kindly review! As for the Meg/Ryu…Well it was a suggestion to throw out there, you know? Ah man, how I could I forget the awesome Ilyana? I feel so ashamed for not including her!

As for this version of Ryu, I had stated in the first chapter that it was Breath of Fire III's version. I had to think about which Ryu I wanted to use; I was going to originally use Breath of Fire IV's, but Ryu got rid of his dragon godly power in the endgame (along with Fou-Lu) though remained in the world. Likewise, in the Breath of Fire IV manga, "Utsurowazarumono", at the end, if you haven't read it, sorry for the light spoiler, but Ryu and Fou-Lu cast the dragons out, etc, and stay in the world to live as mortals. So, Fou-Lu stays. I know that bit of information was unrelated to the question, but I just had to say it for comparison reasons. The point is; Breath of Fire IV Ryu cast out his Endlessness. Breath of Fire II Ryu doesn't really have a "stable" dragon form, Breath of Fire (I) Ryu is alright, but his man-skirt I just couldn't take seriously. Dragon Quarter was too advanced for this story, so all that's left was Breath of Fire III.

III Ryu seemed better; he can actually use healing, support, and attack magic as well as using Accession. I know IV Ryu's dragon form always appears as III's Warrior's form, and if you think about it, in a scene in FE:RD, the Zunanma picture, one looked like a dragon (obviously) that looked very close to how Ryu appears in Warrior form. So, that was just pure coincidence for me. I was going to make use of the Golden Warrior form that can be used in III (so much AP loss)

As for the Nailah scene, do you mean Ryu beats her or she beats him? Either way, it can still be done. Sigrun and Sanaki would be great candidates. Yes, screw age gaps! However, I'm only doing the Dawn Brigade chapters of RD. I suppose when I finish this story, I can make a sequel. Ah, sorry for this long answer to your review, though. If you were wondering about Ryu's swords, I had Ascension and the Dragon Blade "merge" together, so it has holy properties and only Ryu can use it.

So far the pairings with Ryu can be:

Micaiah  
Laura  
Ilyana  
Aimee  
Meg  
Jill  
Fiona  
Vika  
Nailah

…Okay maybe I should take Aimee off that list.

Shalemaster: Thanks for the review! What will happen to Ryu in this next chapter? :0 Well, you'll have to read, mate! Hope you'll stick around to read it, yeah?

Enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

**Part I:** Silver-Haired Maiden; The Dragon Prince

**Chapter V:** A Faint Light; A Flash of Power

* * *

After defeating the soldiers residing in Lord Kisca's manor, the Dawn Brigade left—with Sothe stashing as many weapons he and everyone could carry on them. Laura had left them to deliver the medicine to her abbot, more precisely to her church she served as a priest. The group stayed away from the roars of the Begnion soldiers that marched around, who were trying to find them, but to no avail. While avoiding being spotted, Nolan kept a sharp lookout for the soldiers' movements, Micaiah read on her newly acquired Thani tome to familiarize its spells, Leonardo was making arrows from scratch, Edward was relaxing beside a tree, Sothe had gone to secure a safe route for them to escape and Ryu quietly zoned out, but still tuned in with his ears. They were back in the forest, hiding out until it was safe to leave.

That fire spell he used back there…just what was that? He felt he knew it so well, and felt he remembered it from somewhere. The question was…from _where_? The blue-haired swordsman stared into his right hand, almost mesmerized by its palm. He focused on that feeling of those hot flames, the tips of his fingers ignited lightly afire. It was no doubt magic, something he attempted to do the other day or so ago. Ryu dispersed the magic flames, sighing heavily. _I'm thinking on this too much…_ He thought to himself. Not a moment passed and a simple name came to mind: Simoon.

"…Huh?" Ryu randomly drabbled to himself, wondering just where he heard that from. It was similar to how he 'learned' the spells of Cure, Restore, and then Lightning. Another thing that came to mind was what Laura had told him when they were inside the manor: _"The goddess has truly blessed us with a kind person such as you."_ Was what she had said. He felt he knew a goddess from somewhere, so why was this any different? What connection did it have with him, anyway? The blue-haired youth continued pondering to himself, unaware of Micaiah approaching him and sitting beside him, staring intently. _I wonder…where I came from._

"Ryu? Are you all right?" the silver-haired girl's voice gently called to him. Ryu instantly shook from his thoughts and turned to face Micaiah.

"I…was just thinking, that's all."

"Thinking? About what, if you don't mind me asking?"

_About how I can use magic without tomes._ "Well, just about the fight we won today. I unintentionally used magic again when I shouldn't have." He looked away for a moment, studying his hands as if they were weapons of war—which he seriously thought they were. "Remember when I…tried to use a fire spell the other day ago?"

Micaiah nodded, wondering where he was going with this conversation. "I remember. It seemed you barely had a handle on it—" She paused lightly, "But I thought otherwise."

"Yeah I didn't—huh?" Ryu began, stopping himself abruptly.

"Ryu, this may seem strange, but I felt an enormous magical quality to you a week ago, when we were sitting by ourselves by the campfire." Micaiah sighed a little; she hoped what she was going to say wouldn't scare him or anything. "Something within you is…just so powerful. I can't tell what it is. So, when you used that fire spell earlier, it may be the hidden power that lies dormant trying to awaken. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it's strong."

"…" Ryu dotted, looking from her concerning face to his hands, then to the ground. Was she right? Was there really some hidden power in him? That seemed utterly ridiculous! There was no way he could have such an abundance of power. "I'm sorry, Micaiah. I don't know what it is, either. I don't think I have such…power anyway. Even if I did, and there is a change something greater emerges from me the next time…how will I have control over it? I don't want you all to be caught up in its…destruction, for a lack of a better word."

"Don't worry about us, Ryu." The silver-haired girl reassured. "We'll help you. We said we would and we mean it."

"I do not doubt that; I never did and never will. I just doubt myself and the abilities I wield."

"Trouble yourself no more. It'll all come back to you, some way or another." Micaiah smiled, patting his shoulder. "Ryu, with you and Sothe near me and with everyone else, I feel so much happier. I don't want you to doubt yourself and then end up leaving us…" The blue-haired swordsman looked up at her, finding her smile very assuring and alluring at the same time. How could he refuse this? Ryu lightly smiled back, attempting to drop his sour feeling he felt earlier. Of course, it wouldn't go away that quickly; he was going to make an effort.

"I won't leave, Micaiah. No matter how hard it gets, personally, emotionally and physically. I've sworn my allegiance to the Dawn Brigade, and I intend to stay here to help rebuild and free Daein." After Ryu spoke, Yune chirped happily, flying off Micaiah's shoulder and onto Ryu's. The two shared a contented fit of laughter which Edward chuckled under his breath at them.

-x-x-x-

"I have the medicine!" Laura announced as she made her way back to the church. The others there, a man with similar robes Laura wore and another female healer with a staff, gasped in awe as their friend returned safely.

"Laura, you're all right! Thank goodness!" the woman breathed out.

"I will quickly give this to our abbot." the male priest says, graciously taking the medic kit from Laura. "Thank you so much for your bravery, Laura. With this, the abbot will feel better in no time."

"Yes, I'm so glad! I had some help from some bandits!" the cheery black-haired girl exclaimed excitedly. The woman healer blinked, staring at her in bafflement. Bandits…helped her? Did she hear this correctly? She shook her head and looked at Laura, confused. "Pardon, but did you say…bandits helped you? Why would you ever turn to those who steal from us?"

"Oh, no! You have it all wrong!" Laura defended. "They were nice people, really! They called themselves the Dawn Brigade! They were such nice bandits!"

"T-the Dawn Brigade? You ran into them?! The Silver-Haired Maiden was with them, r-right?"

"Oh…yes. Micaiah was her name!"

"Oh, honey, Laura. The Dawn Brigade aren't bandits—" The woman tried to explain but her words fell on deaf ears.

"I'll go tell Micaiah that our abbot has his medicine! I'll be right back!" Laura said excitedly, filled with utmost joy. "Please wait here for me!" Before the other could protest, the staff-user was already out the doors of the church. Once she was out of sight, the woman priest sighed and clasped her hands together.

"O goddess that shines so brightly, please watch over Laura and direct her safely…"

-x-x-x-

Through the back alleyways of the nearest town, Laura ran as much as her legs could carry her. She knew the Dawn Brigade bandits would have waited for her to return to them and report the good news. After all, they deserved some kind of reward for all their generous help! "Hm, maybe I can join them and help them? They did seem like nice bandits. I'm sure if I ask I could." Just as she bypassed a few trees along the road, something grabbed her left arm roughly! "Aaaaah!" She squeaked a loud, startled. The young girl was jerked back abruptly, both arms behind her back as whomever it was held her in a bind. In her panic, she dropped her Heal staff, the ornament pole clanging against the ground.

"L-let me go!" the priest struggled, but was soon silenced when she saw the tip of a sword pointing straight into her face. Her dark eyes widened in fear, sweat beaded down the side of her precious, young face as she drew her attention to the weapon's wielder. It was a tall man clad in orchid-purple armor, with a blackish-grey scarf draped around his neck. His hair was a dark, fiery red color, short and a bit messy to add. His eyes were dark brown, and that sadistic grin plastered upon his face told Laura he was someone she shouldn't anger.

"Keheheh. It was easy following you when the Dawn Brigade isn't." The man laughed, glaring down at Laura, loving the fear her expression showed. "Listen up, lass. If you want to live, you will do everything I, Jarod, tells you. Understood!?" The girl shuddered in even more panic as he pronounced his name—Jarod was the name of the general of the Begnion Occupation Army. What were the chances she ran into him? What did he want? Why her? She lowered her head in defeat, allowing herself to be used in whatever means he intended to use her for. "Oh Micaiah…" Laura whispered softly as Jarod trussed her up in a wrist bind, roughly leading her away.

-x-x-x-

After a good hour and a half, with the afternoon slowly rolling in, Sothe returned from his rounds, approaching the group. The others notice his presence, thankful he returned safely, Micaiah moreso than the rest. "Looks like we're all clear." He told them, smiling. "Well done, everybody! Are we all present and accounted for?" The rest of the members stood up from their spots, nodding. Well, except Ryu, that is.

"Hold on…" He noted carefully. _We're missing someone…_ He thought to himself, closing his eyes.

"Wait! Laura's missing!" Micaiah said after, realizing what Ryu said. "She was supposed to be meeting us here…"

"Let's split up and search for her." Sothe said, turning to the silver-haired girl. "Micaiah, you come with me."

"…Hm, the forest is huge. We can cover more ground if we search individually." Micaiah said, thinking.

"But…" Sothe began to protest, but Nolan shook his head.

"She's right, Sothe. I know you're worried for Micaiah, but let's trust her on this." The bearded man said with a reassuring smile.

"Let's rendezvous at Kunu Swamp in three marks' time." Micaiah added after Nolan's remark. Edward and Leonardo nodded first, leaving in separate directions as did Nolan. Sothe and Micaiah shared one last glance at another before reluctantly departing. Ryu watched them go and once they disappeared, headed in the similar path as Micaiah. Something was…itching at him to follow her. "She didn't want Sothe to go with her, or rather; she didn't want to go with Sothe. Something's not right…She must have sensed something with her farsight and didn't want to mention it." He told himself. Yune chirped lightly, her tone seemed as if she were concerned.

"Hey, Yune. Fly ahead of me and see if you can find Micaiah. I'll follow you." He told the orange canary, petting her head before she took off with haste. Ryu kept his eyes peeled open for the orange bird, and seemingly, a "third eye" of his from the depths of his mind opened up as well. His right eye flashed, turning a shade lighter than the other as if he were wearing contacts. Odd. While Ryu himself was unaware of this change, he had a feeling his body was reacting to the danger he apparently sensed out. With Begnion after them, it was likely.

Meanwhile…Minutes later…

Micaiah was running alone in the forested area, the heels of her boots making audible clicking sounds as she thundered against the ground below, dust rousing up with every step. She peeked around a few trees, looking around to make sure nothing or nobody was closing in on her. Before she took another step forward, something light landed on her shoulder! The silver-haired girl gasped suddenly and turned, only to find it was just Yune! "Oh, Yune, you scared me…" Micaiah admitted. The orange canary chirped happily, and soon after…

"Micaiah, we found you."

The light mage turned around, seeing that now Ryu was behind her, smiling. How did he…? And 'we'? "Ryu? Were you and Yune following me?"

"To put it that way, yes. I told her to go ahead and find you, and I'd follow her. You know, you really shouldn't be without Sothe. He's worried for you." The swordsman replied, also reminding her of the green-haired thief.

"I-I know, but I…"

"You sensed something dangerous, didn't you?" Ryu asked her, his right eye flashing again. Thankfully, Micaiah didn't catch it.

"Yes. I just felt something awful. I didn't want them to be involved…"

"Hm." Ryu noted softly. "That's very brave of you. I sensed something, too. I wanted to be sure you were all right."

"…Thank-you, Ryu." Micaiah smiled, knowing if she could escape Sothe, she couldn't escape Ryu so easily. "Let's find Laura together, then. I think that'll ease Sothe's worries."

"I believe so too. Let's go."

The two ended their light conversation, now keeping watch of their surroundings, hoping they would find Laura soon and stay out of Begnion's way. Ryu felt like he had four eyes patrolling the area; two visible ones, a "mental" one and then his right eye flashing images to him with every step. A few minutes pass as they continued traversing through the forest, and the blue-haired young man cringed slightly. He immediately slapped his right hand over his right eye while it twitched and burned for some reason. He remembered something to this effect a few weeks ago, back in Nevassa. Ryu soon realized what was going to happen…

"Ryu? Are you okay?" Micaiah asked, having seen him tremble not a moment ago.

"I…I'm fine. Got something in my eye, is all." He said, not entirely a lie. It felt like something was in his eye.

Micaiah looked up, frowning. "Somebody's near by…" She said with her partner agreeing.

"I've…noticed." Ryu added, also frowning. His "eyes" somehow dispersed, leaving his mind closed and his right eye returned to its normal color. He had a feeling who it was, namely because of the irritation he was getting. It only stirred up around one person in particular. The two hurry around another set of trees, spotting none other than…

"You sensed me, did you?" a voice called to them, with a deep, low tone applied. The person revealed themselves as Jarod, the General of the Begnion Occupation Army. Ah, we should have seen this coming.

"Where's Laura?" Micaiah asked.

"Let her go." Ryu added, demanding.

"And you saw through my ruse. You're as clever as they say, my dear." Jarod snickered, glaring down at Micaiah, avoiding the question. "You even came alone, with him. How brave of you both. Was that to give your friends a chance to escape?" The Halberdier's grin widened sadistically as he narrowed his eyes on the blue-haired maggot. "Heh! What a thoughtful little thing you two are. I'm almost amused!" Jarod roughly dragged the trussed up Laura in front of him, the sword from before to her neck ever so closely. Micaiah gasped and Ryu growled.

"Mi-Micaiah! R-Ryu! Please, don't come any closer!" Laura warned, hoping they would run away and save themselves. She wasn't worth it. But, they stayed there anyway! Why? Why would they sacrifice themselves for her?

"Laura! We're going to save you!" Ryu assured her, his blue eyes intent on killing Jarod for even laying a finger on her.

"Let her go! She isn't one of us!" Micaiah yelled, hoping the Halberdier would release the priest.

Jarod simply laughed. "Now, you know I can't do that. She's a valuable hostage, just like you!" His gaze met with the powerful ones of Ryu. It was that deathly glare again; one gaze into those eyes and you would feel like useless jelly. Snarling, the general drew the knife closer to Laura's neck when the blue-haired swordsman began walking towards them. "One step closer, magical maggot, and she's dead. You think I won't do it, then try me!" Ryu paused slightly when the annoying general mentioned "magical" before the naming insult. He knew he could use magic, too? With his obvious change of expression, Jarod knew he nailed a hard one on Ryu.

"Heh, did you think I'd forget how you used that flash of light magic on me the other time?"

"…"

"Now that I've exposed you, let's get to business! Get them!" Jarod commanded. Alder and a few Begnion knights with him surrounded Ryu and Micaiah, armed and ready. As much as his body trembled with rage, Ryu couldn't attack back. He wasn't in much control of his magical power yet, and any wrong move, he would risk hurting Laura and Micaiah in the process. He couldn't do that; realizing this, the blue-haired swordsman gave in…for now.

"No! Yune, fly away!" The silver-haired girl cried, the orange canary chirping a loud, flapping her tiny wings to fly off. The Halberdier snarled, swatting at the annoying bird as she barely escaped his grasp.

"Argh, dratted bird! Yes, get that mangy flying bag of bones out of here before I squash it like a fly!" He growled, earning himself a pair of blue daggers. Jarod ignored the look of Ryu, turning to his men. "Tch. How annoying. Bind them!"

"Sir." Alder said, now directing the other soldiers to confiscate Ryu and Micaiah's weapons—except that Ryu's sword burnt them upon contact, so they had to wrap it in a spare cloth after taking it—and binded them. Another soldier took Laura from Jarod, as the General shoved her down; Ryu growled under his breath, swearing to take vengeance on this man one way or another. Once that was taken care of, Jarod approached Micaiah, grabbing her by the chin, his dark eyes glowering into hers. The girl tried to turn away, but it was futile. She had no choice but to look into his gaze.

"With you out of the way, the Dawn Brigade is nothing. Let's keep you…comfortable, shall we?" The Halberdier released her face, now approaching Ryu. The blue-haired youth kept his head down and his anger level from broiling higher. "And before I forget…" Jarod grabbed a handful of Ryu's electric blue hair, jerking his head up forcibly. "Don't think our little dispute is over, maggot. I'll have delight in crushing the life out of you later." With this, he released Ryu's hair, and then delivered a powerful punch to the young man's abdomen!

"Ryu!" Micaiah wailed in panic, watching with horror filled eyes. Ryu barely uttered a sound at the impact of Jarod's fist connecting with his body. Regardless, the blue-haired swordsman doubled over, hissing in pain. What a punch.

"No!" Laura bellowed after, terrified. How could this man be so cruel?!

"Heh, enough of this! Back to the castle. As long as we have these three, the others don't matter!"

Alder nodded, turning to his cohorts. "All hands, withdraw!" He said, now leading them off. Micaiah closed her eyes, sighing in defeat.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…"

-x-x-x-

**Glaive Prison**

The soldiers led Micaiah, Laura and the semi-conscious Ryu to a prison not too far from the Kisca manor which they infiltrated hours earlier. The two girls were shoved into an already occupied cell while the others were leading Ryu away elsewhere. "Where are you taking him?" Micaiah asked the soldiers, who simply shrugged her off.

"Farther into the prison, girly. General Jarod wants him far away from you all as much as possible." One of the guards replied, closing the cell door and heading after his cohort whom had led Ryu further down the jailhouse. When they were gone, Laura and Micaiah exchanged looks. If the chance ever arose that the others came to rescue them, how would they ever get to Ryu? Seeing as there was nothing they could do, the two sat together near the cell's bars, leaning their heads back against the wall.

"I hope the others escaped…" The silver-haired girl said, wondering back to the other three of the group.

"I'm sure they did, and that they're safe, too." Laura replied softly. "I meant to come back and tell you that I delivered the medicine to the abbot. I have faith that it'll work." She closed her eyes, smiling contently. "I know it will work."

"Pardon…Excuse me." Micaiah and Laura looked around and noticed that another occupant had caught their attention. She had gorgeous, dark black wavy hair, sapphire colored eyes, and was garbed in pink, mostly her pants and the shawl over her head. Her shirt was a beige-color, and she wore gold bracelets around her left wrist. "Not to pry, but did you know you're bleeding? You've got some blood on your sleeve there." The woman indicated Micaiah who blinked before taking note of her own injury.

"Hm? Oh, you're right! I've been so distracted, I didn't even notice…" The girl admitted.

"Unfortunately, there are no vulneraries to heal you in this rat hole…" The dark-haired woman said, tearing off a long piece of her shawl and handing it to Micaiah. "Here, try wrapping this cloth around your wound."

Micaiah accepted the cloth graciously, beginning to wrap her wound with the given cloth. "Thank you very much. I don't believe we've met. I'm Micaiah."

"And, I'm Laura, one of Micaiah's friends." The girl priest added, smiling.

"I'm Aimee. I've been a lucky guest in this dungeon for quite some time." The pink-garbed lady, Aimee, introduced. "On behalf of me and my snoozing friend over there, Ilyana, it's very nice to meet you, Micaiah and Laura." The two girls noticed the sleeping frame of another woman in the cell that Aimee pointed out. She seemed frail, as if she were going to die any minute without food or water. Poor thing. She had light, lavender hair tied into two, low ponytails that curled around her shoulders. She wore a light yellow topped tunic and short, light-violet skirt, her slender legs exposed until they stopped at her lavender matching long boots. The small cape draped around her neck was dark yellow in color. From the looks of her appearance, she seemed like a mage—one that studied Thunder magic, from Micaiah's own view.

"…Mm…" Ilyana mumbled in her sleep.

"Say, who was that charming young man with the weird blue hair that those soldiers took away?" Aimee asked, interested. "I've never seen a man like him before."

"That was our friend, Ryu." Micaiah answered. "I don't know where they're taking him. I wish I knew, but I don't. I hope he's all right."

"Oh, my. I hope he's all right, too. It would be a shame if anything happened to him."

-x-x-x-

The soldiers found an open cell and tossed the blue-haired swordsman in there. "In you go!" One said casually, watching as Ryu tumbled in, groaning in pain. "I think I remember this guy from our training exercises in Begnion." The guard closed the cell's door, locking it tight.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Some guys brought him in. He had been lying outside the city, unconscious for some reason. Nobody had ever seen him around, and well…He ended up becoming apart of the empire's call. A great swordsman, I heard, but really weird." The other finished as they were walking away. "I heard he healed one of the newer recruits that was hailed in from Daein." Once they were gone and their conversation with them, Ryu flooded back to consciousness. He sat up, having regained his breath all the while. Without his sword, he couldn't do much, and his pain hadn't shifted yet. He wondered about his two comrades, Laura and Micaiah.

"Please let them be all right…" He muttered, shutting himself to silence.

However, as soon as he did, a voice he thought was his imagination spoke to him. _"Ryu…"_ It said, almost beckoning in a way. The blue-haired swordsman glanced in every direction, clueless. Where had he heard it from? "Who…Who's there?" When nothing answered him, he sighed. Maybe he was hallucinating. That punch from Jarod may have knocked some silliness into his mind. He managed to crawl over to the left side of the cell's moldy wall, leaning against it. "I must be losing my mind…"

-x-x-x-

The ladies fell in downcast for a moment before Micaiah broke it with her own question directed at Aimee. "Why are you two in here? Do you know?"

"I wish I knew!" The older woman began, frowning. "We belong to a merchant caravan that was passing through en route to the next market day. When we arrived here, we were brought to this charming prison against our will. Now, we await 'the general's pleasure'." Aimee explained, sighing.

"I see." Micaiah said after, softly.

"Well, that doesn't sound good; how unfortunate." Laura added, frowning herself.

It wasn't a moment longer until another voice spoke up, barely mumbling an "Um…" response. Aimee and the others turned in response to the person's voice, looking at them curiously. The shop tender smiled easily at the young man in the cloak, only seeing his visible, red eyes. "So you can talk. You've been so quiet over there, I assumed you didn't speak our language." She said, causing the man to stumble in his words for a second before nodding to her.

"My apologies…" He said, then turning to Micaiah. "…if you wish, you may use this salve on your wound. It's an infusion of olivi grass."

"Olivi grass?" Aimee questioned doubtfully. "Hm, I've never heard of it. Are you sure it's safe?"

"It's unquestionably safe…and effective." The cloaked figure replied almost matter-of-factly.

The silver-haired girl smiled. "Thank you most kindly. I'll try it."

"Well, aren't you the trusting one? Are you honestly comfortable applying a strange medicine to your wound?" The shop tender asked, concerned.

"I am. I know it will work. Thank you for sharing your medicine." Micaiah carefully applied the medicine to her light injury, allowing the contents to take effect before wrapping the given cloth around it to secure it. The wonders of the Olivi grass worked beautifully—Micaiah felt as if she had been lying in a place full of soft feathers. Yes, feathers. That was an odd sensation. The man in the cloak smiled and nodded after her thanks.

"You're welcome!" He said. Micaiah then glanced at Laura for a moment before something creaked!

"I hear something!" She said a loud, blinking as the sound echoed as if someone was opening a creaky door slowly. After a few seconds, someone came down from the ceiling, with lush, evergreen hair that Micaiah and Laura recognized easily. He landed near the cell door, twirling his picklock in his hands.

"Here you are." Sothe said, lightly grinning.

"Sothe!" Micaiah and Laura gasped in relief. A chirping sound came next and a familiar orange canary flew to Micaiah's shoulder. "Oh, and Yune! I'm so glad you're both all right!"

"Sorry it took so long." The thief apologized, working on the lock of the cell. His golden eyes found themselves on the woman in pink, his face set to an immediate frown. "Hello…"

"Well, hello! I remember you. You've certainly grown up to be easy on the eyes! I believe I'm a little smitten." Aimee chuckled, her eyes narrowing on the now handsome Sothe. She remembered him from three years ago, but then, he was just a scrawny looking boy that had been looking for someone very close to him, as she heard from the other soldiers when they stopped by her shop. Yes, he was definitely grown up now—and everything else impure her mind was cooking up. The silver-haired mage looked at Sothe, then to Aimee, and now confused.

"You two know each other?" She asked, a hint of some brewing jealousy sparked into her voice, but the other two didn't catch it—thankfully.

"Somewhat." Sothe replied nonchalantly—easing Micaiah's sudden worry—while still picking at the door's lock. "We crossed paths during the war. Let's get out of here before the guards come." He succeeded in unlocking the door, everyone filing out the cell quietly. "Let's find a way out of here—"

"Wait!" Micaiah suddenly gasped. "We still have to find Ryu! They captured him along with Laura and I."

"What?" The greenet half-snapped, not at her but at the news she delivered. How did Ryu, a skilled swordsman of his caliber, get captured by those idiot Begnion soldiers? Not wanting to know why at the moment, Sothe stared at Micaiah. "Where is he? Where did they take him?"

"I-It was further down the prison. We couldn't see where, but it was down there, I-I'm sure." Laura answered, pointing down the way. Sothe nodded and hurried down the path; the others followed behind him closely, hoping for one, they wouldn't get captured again by soldiers, and Sothe was the only one with a weapon on him. They turned a few corners and checked every cell in the prison. Most were empty, due to other Daeins being locked up in other prison camps. However, one in particular sported a glow of sorts. Noticing it was suspicious, they hurried over towards the light.

-x-x-x-

_Who am I really? Other…than my name…_ Ryu wondered, sitting up against the cell's left wall, his right leg crossed over his left. He looked up wordlessly at the cell's ceiling, thinking. _As far as I know, I'm just someone that can use magic freely. I can feel it now. Magic that I never knew that are haunting me._ The palm of his right hand opened subconsciously, then closed into a light fist. Within it, a small ball of light brilliantly formed, and when he opened it again, it hovered just above his touch with ease. _What was I before I…forgot? That voice earlier…It called my name, but why?_ The blue-head closed his eyes, thinking back on the voice. However, he seemingly drifted off…

"Ryu…"

It was a woman garbed in a red, mini-dress, with matching red boots, hair band in her hair and a bluish jewel in the center of her outfit. She had short blond hair that naturally spiked an in upwards curve, bangs over her face. Her skin complexion was fair, and her eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue he's ever seen. Behind her were a pair of small, white wings, and she wore gold bracelets around her wrists. She smiled sincerely as he kept focusing on her image. Who was she? How did she know his name? Ryu stood there, in-mind, staring at her. The scenery was beautiful—it was a white place with trees, a bench to sit down upon, the pavement of the ground also dipped in white. What a strange place to have a dream, though.

"I believe in you, Ryu." The woman said, that smile still planted on her face. She looked so full of life that Ryu felt reassured. Whoever she was, her voice and the girl herself seemed so familiar. Where had he seen this person from? And, she believed in him? "I…remember that…Someone…told me that…Was it her?"

"Ryu…"

She called out again.

"Ryu… … …"

Her voice trailed. Her image was beginning to disappear!

"Wait!" Ryu cried in-thought. He held out his hand, hoping she would stay. "Who are you? Don't leave! Do you know who I am!?" As much as he tried reaching for this winged woman, she faded out of existence with that pleasant smile. He ran up to where she had been, staring in blank anxiety. She was gone! "Why do I feel like I know her? This is…all too crazy." He sighed, face-palming. Soon, the entire dream world was beginning to shake underneath Ryu's feet! He looked around frantically, panicking slightly; he watched the ground beneath him crumble!

"Ah!" He gasped, jumping out of the way and landed onto another part of the ground. However, that was crumbling beneath him as well! "Wh-what the?" Ryu groaned, running from that spot now. Regardless of where he ran off too, the ground below and behind him rumbled and began crumbling apart as if a massive earthquake erupted. The blue-haired swordsman kept running anyhow, into the emptiness of his dreams; he dared to look behind him, and kept going. When he felt he was far away enough, he gasped for air, panting heavily. He felt like he had been running forever, and in his dream as well! Why was he running in his own dreams?

Before he could answer himself, he saw the image of fire breaking loose upon a village. He stood outside of it, watching these strange, reptile-scaled men in oriental clothing, armed with spears, and killing off what appeared to be…dragons! Ryu's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the scene unfolding before him. So much bloodshed, so much pain oozed out of every dragon being that was slain by these people! He felt the agony that wailed from the dragonkin, as if he were one of them. But, it was impossible! How could he be something that he doesn't even know about?!…Or _does_ he? Surely, thinking of something like this would be a sign of something! Ryu clutched his head, falling to his knees, agonized. The screams of the dragons were haunting him, hurting him, crying out his name! Why were they!? Why was this happening?

"WHO AM I!" Ryu screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing abound the horrible dream world.

Through his yelling, a faint voice was trying to pull him out. It cried, "Ryu! Ryu! Wake up! Open your eyes!"

-x-x-x-

"Ryu! Wake up! It's just a bad dream!" The voice called out again, now harmonizing into a familiar, female's voice his ears registered. Ryu, with his eyes shut tight, sprung awake at the calling of his name. There above him was a teary-eyed Micaiah, a worried Laura, a deeply concerned Sothe and three others he didn't know. Even Yune chirped with worry as she flew down to the blue-head's shoulder, trying to rub her plump body against his cheek. Ryu registered where he was at—inside a cell. Yes, he remembered he was thrown in here after Jarod captured—and punched—him. His panicked breathing began to slow down, sweat beading down his face. "…O-Oh." He blinked, putting his hand to his head.

"What just…happened?" He asked dumbly.

"We were going to ask you that, but…" Sothe trailed, feeling at a loss for words.

"Well…" Ryu started, "I was thrown in here by Jarod's men. Then, I sort of dozed off. I…guess I just had a bad dream then…"

"I can't blame you, after being in here." Aimee sympathized. "This place is no laughing matter, that's for sure."

Ryu sighed, beginning to stand up. "I'm sorry for worrying."

"Don't worry about it." Sothe replied. "We're glad you're all right." He thumbed towards the exit. "We should really get out of here before we draw attention."

"Right…"

The small group banded, currently backtracking to head out of the prison. A few guards were placed in there inconveniently, making them split up and hide behind unused cells to conceal themselves as the guards passed them. When they were gone, they resumed their escape.

"I would like to get out of here, too. Like Aimee, I have no idea why I've been imprisoned. May I join you?" The man in the cloak asked as they were nearing the exit. Micaiah turned to him and smiled.

"By all means!" The light mage said cheerfully. The man nodded, gratefully.

"I thank you much. My name is Kurth."

"Well then, Kurth, after you."

-x-x-x-

"We can't find Laura at all, and now Micaiah is missing." Leonardo said, feeling worried about his comrades. "I wonder where Sothe and Ryu went off to."

"If Begnion's still around here, then that means Micaiah may have got caught…" Edward added into the conversation with his assumption. "What are we going to do?" The two turn to Nolan, who had been pondering on something for a while. "Any ideas, Nolan?" The axe-user tapped his chin thoughtfully for a second longer before an idea sprung into his mouth.

"There's a prison close by here, called the Glaive Prison. Should we suppose Micaiah was captured, they would have most likely locked her up there." The older man pointed down a road. "If we follow this path, we should end up where the prison camp is."

"It's probably crawling with Begnion soldiers, though." Edward complained. "I sometimes wish we were as stealthy as Sothe, you know? It'd make things a whole lost easier."

Leonardo turned to his friend, frowning. "Edward…"

The myrmidon raised his hands in defense. "Hey! It was just a thought!"

"Come on boys. No more time for idle chit-chat. If we're to help rescue Micaiah and find Laura, then we should get going." Nolan intervened and began leading the way. The bickering friends ceased their bantering for now and followed after him, keeping their weapons handy in case for any strange ambushes by Begnion troops. They made it within five miles of running with no sign of the enemy. So far, so good. Once near the prison front gates, it was literally swarming with red-armored men and another on a horse, wielding a sword painted in a green hue. Nolan and the boys hid themselves, watching the Begnion guards' movements.

"Great. How are we going to get passed them?" Edward whispered in complaint, yet again.

"We can't charge them. There's way too many, and that man on the horse has a Wind Sword, from what I can tell." The archer added, frowning again.

"The only other way in is if we used the east gate…But I'm sure Begnion is guarding that like it's a fragile china set." Nolan mentioned, rubbing his trimmed beard.

"Well, we have to do something!" Edward groaned. "I don't want to sit here and do nothing."

"Patience, Edward—"

"…Are you here to save Laura?"

The three spun around when hearing a voice ask them a question, hesitant at first when it was a Begnion soldier. His armor wasn't like theirs, however, but it was dark blue—like a Daein's! He had his helmet on, similar to Ryu's when they first met, and his evident, light green hair shaded over his face slightly. The color of his eyes was a pale, dark blue as well, and he held an Iron Lance in his grasp. The three of the Dawn Brigade were going to pound him to pieces, but noticed he had not yet inched to move a muscle. Trustworthy, much? Deciding to hear him out, Nolan answered, "Yes we are. We're also here to save a few of our other friends as well."

The soldier nodded. "I heard two girls—one with silver hair and a priest as well as a boy with blue hair had been captured and sent to this prison. I immediately knew it was Laura because of how they described her." He looked at them, staring. "And…the boy with blue hair. I only know one person who that could be—Ryu."

"Wh-what?" Leonardo gasped.

"You know Ryu?" Nolan added.

"That's cool!" Edward finished, earning himself strange stares from the others. "Well, I mean, he is cool and all. But how do you know him?"

The dark blue soldier shook his head. "I just recently learned his name from my…cohorts. When he was described to me, as I was to be stationed here, I recognized that he was the same person who healed me of my fatal injuries during a practice round with a cohort back in Begnion. I…am ever grateful to him. It was odd how he did it without a staff, but…I wasn't objecting. I never will, either." The trio took a moment to sponge in this young man's explanation with the brunet swordsman gaping wide-eyed!

"Wait! Ryu told us this story before! He said he met up with this guy with green hair, and he was training with some others. He got wounded pretty badly, and then he healed him out of the blue." Edward summarized, grinning. "You must be that same soldier then!"

"Yes, I am." The light-green haired soldier nodded.

"Great! Well, I'm Edward! Good to meet you!"

"I'm Leonardo."

"And, I'm Nolan. It's a pleasure to see someone from Begnion actually being helpful to us."

"I'm Aran." The soldier replied. "And, I'm not exactly with Begnion. I was born here in Daein, but I was taken in by a family of merchants from Begnion, and was raised there. I don't call myself a true Daein any longer. I've…left my country without wanting to."

"Hey, it's okay. You couldn't do anything about it." The blond archer assured him. "And it doesn't matter who took you in. You're still a true Daein if you were born here. You're not turning on your country on your own free will."

"Hm, right." Aran said simply, then nodded for them to come with. "Follow me. I'll lead you to the back gate. The east gate is far too protected." The three agree and begin following Aran. It was a good thing he came around; without him or Sothe, they'd probably still be trying to find a way inside the prison camp by now.

-x-x-x-

Sothe and the others finally make it to the prison's door, the greenet and Ryu using their strength to open the solid, metal door's handle together. Not that it was necessary, but it helped. As they others were rushing outside, Ryu's eyes spotted a sword just sitting on a wooden table, sleeping in its sheath. His initial thought was why didn't they lock the sword up, and he immediately knew why. That was his sword! They couldn't touch it any further than what they did earlier. Heh! "I'm glad to see it's still loyal to me." Ryu said to himself, picking up the weapon and its new sheath, since he was robbed of his. When he stepped outside into the light, he spotted three people running up to their left!

"Sothe, this way!" Nolan shouted, startling the escapees.

"Nolan! Edward! Leonardo! It's so good to see you all." said Micaiah happily. All her friends were with her now, safely. Sothe shook his head, very amused by his friends and how they managed to get this far without his help. In fact, he opened his mouth to ask.

"How did you manage to sneak in this far without my help?"

"Oddly, one of the soldiers let us in the back way." Nolan said.

Micaiah gasped. "A Begnion soldier?"

Ryu blinked. Another soldier helped them, just like he did weeks ago. It seemed he influenced some of the soldiers or something with his heroic actions. Maybe, or maybe not. Either way, it was surprising that another would make a sacrifice and help out the wanted. "Yes, he said, "If you're here to save Laura, follow me." It was pretty simple, and he was nice, to boot. He also knew you, Ryu." Laura and the electric-blue haired young man blinked in unison, staring at one another for a quick second.

"How strange. Why would a Begnion soldier mention us?" The black-haired girl wondered. The others shrugged, unable to give an answer. Unfortunately for them, their conversation was cut short by a red-clad man, pointing his lance in their direction. "The prisoners are escaping!" The soldier cried out, making the Dawn Brigade grumble in complaint—well only Edward.

"Surprise, surprise! They found us!" Micaiah said sarcastically.

Sothe dug into his satchel, handing the silver-haired girl a light yellow tome. "Micaiah, this is for you."

The light mage gasped in shock, taking the item in her grasp. "My tome! How did you find it?"

"I didn't know if it was yours, but I figured you could use it. So at the armory, I "borrowed" it too." The thief told her truthfully.

"Well done, Sothe. Now I can fight as well."

Next, Sothe turned to Laura, presenting a stave for her. "And a staff for you, Sister."

"Thank you very much." The black-haired girl replied gratefully.

"Um…I…I can fight too. Could you…lend me that tome?" Ilyana motioned for the dark yellow tome in Sothe's satchel. Ryu looked at her, confused. This girl, she looked so weak, so frail, as if she were to pass out any minute. What was wrong with her? Did being in the prison for so long make her so feeble looking? She looked tired, and appeared to have a headache. Why was she trying to fight if her situation was so…dangerous?! Ryu was going to try and stop her, at least, not to fight unless she felt better, but their small conversation went on.

"What, you mean this one?" The thief turned to the Thunder mage, holding up the tome she pointed out. "Ilyana, I didn't know you used light magic, too."

"Sothe, that's a tome of lightning magic." Micaiah corrected him.

"It is?"

"I give up." The light mage sighed in light exasperation. "You just grabbed at random, didn't you?"

"You know I can't read the old language. The letters all look the same to me!" Sothe half complained, earning a couple of chortles from the group. After that small incident, Sothe gave the tome to the lavender haired girl. "Here. If this one will work, take it. Just like old times, right, Ilyana?"

"Thank you…And yes, Sothe…" Ilyana smiled, adding in her own words to his assumption. "I don't want to fight…but I'm glad I'll get to fight alongside you again…" It was then that Micaiah caught onto what Ryu had noticed earlier; Ilyana's "drowsiness".

"Ilyana? If you're not up to it, don't feel pressured to fight. We can handle the soldiers. You look a little woozy. Are you sure you're going to be all right?" The Thunder mage curiously eyed her, wondering what she was talking about. It soon dawned on her and even Ryu pitched into this.

"I noticed that, too. Are you sick? Tired?"

"She's fine, Micaiah, Ryu. She's always like that." Aimee took over, grinning slightly.

Ryu was taken aback lightly; his eyes stared dumbly at the mage girl, then to the shop tender. "…Really?"

"But…" Micaiah added.

"I can fight… I'm…very angry… The food here… It was terrible, and…they gave us hardly any… I…will have vengeance." Ilyana voiced after. Even though it was soft, it was evident she was clearly enraged about the prison food. Both the light mage and blue-haired swordsman exchanged glances before shrugging it off. She meant business, though.

"This girl takes her food pretty seriously. Interesting." Micaiah added lightly.

"No kidding." Ryu remarked softly.

"I see Ilyana is as hungry as ever." Sothe said, smiling. The girl simply nodded, opening the Lightning tome.

"Don't worry about us. We'll carefully tiptoe around you all. The boy and I can't fight, so we'll stay out of harm's way. Good luck, everyone!" Aimee explained. Kurth agreed to this reluctantly, bowing slightly after the shop tender spoke. "I'm sorry to impose upon you. Please be careful…" He added.

The Dawn Brigade, with the addition of Ilyana, nodded to their words, taking their battle stances.

"Th-they're about to attack!" Another Begnion soldier roared to his cohorts. The entire prison grounds became flooded with more soldiers clad in red, armed and ready. To their left, a few soldiers were around; an archer, a myrmidon, and a person with a lance. To their right, two lance-users, an axe-user, and two stationary knights to block off the path. Also to their right, the gate was locked, and being guarded by two archers on the side that wielded Steel Bows, as Leonardo could tell, another myrmidon and two more lance wielding soldiers. They definitely have this place blocked.

"Jeez! They're packing around us like lost, hungry kittens!" Edward grumbled in complaint.

"Well, then let's give them the fish they came here for." Ryu joked along, brandishing his marvelously crafted, and trusted, blade. The others followed suit, taking out their own weapons—sans Laura. She would stay behind unless one of her allies needed her healing. Making a quick judgment of their surroundings, Ryu turned to Sothe. "There's a lot of them, of course. Should we use the same tactic as last time?"

The thief contemplated for a second, nodding. "Yeah. Nolan, think you can sweep the front for a bit? I'll mop up afterwards."

Nolan swung his Steel Axe proudly. "Of course, Sothe. I'll carve us a path."

"Good. Edward, Leonardo, Ilyana," Sothe called their names, "You three go clear out the left over there. Remember, Leonardo, Ilyana. Attack from a distance, then let Edward handle the close combat."

"…All right…" The thunder mage agreed.

"Okay." Leonardo joined in.

"Great!" Edward said ecstatically.

"Micaiah, you stay behind me and cast your magic as well." Sothe instructed, with his friend nodding in approval. "Laura, stay behind until we need aid, but stay out of danger, okay?"

"I-I will."

"Okay. Ryu." Sothe called his name last, the swordsman eyeing him patiently, waiting for his instructions as well. In order to work together in a team, a plan needed to be made. Success fell on not only great strategies, but from great teamwork. Once the others departed for their assigned tasks, the green-haired thief smiled at him. Ryu wondered why he was smiling, feeling a little weird. "…Sothe? You were saying?"

A wind blew over them, capturing their hair almost mystically. Finally, Sothe spoke, "How good are you at using magic from a distance?"

Now THAT was a surprise. Ryu was still in a little bit of doubt of his powers, his magical powers. So far, he only knew five at the most. He looked down at the ground for a second, then back up to Sothe. It appeared that the teen knew about his fire and wind magic attack; Ryu could see it in his eyes. "I believe…I can pull it off. What did you need me to do?"

-x-x-x-

The plan carried out well. Leonardo took out the lancer with a critical shot to the man's throat, instantly downing him. Ilyana summoned jolts of lightning at the next man, who used an axe. He was too slow to dodge and was stricken by the magic attack. He didn't have time to recover as Edward swept him off his feet with a stunning low kick, then stabbed him through his skull. When those two were dead, the myrmidon headed straight for the Begnion's, both clashing blades, rolling out of each other's way when the other attempted to slash at them. When they were caught in a fixated stalemate, Leonardo "evened" up the odds by launching an arrow straight through the enemy myrmidon's left, unprotected thigh. He cried out curses, leaving him open for Ilyana to take him out by electrocuting him with her magic.

"Heh, that wasn't so bad!" Edward laughed. His brown eyes soon spotted something shining from the dead myrmidon's pocket. Deciding it was probably gold they could use to survive on, the brunet rummaged through the pocket and pulled out a spare vulnerary and a small key. "Hm, I found a small key here." The swordsman noted to his companions.

"It must be for that gate there." Leonardo pointed out the locked gate's door. "But, there could be soldiers on the other side, and I don't want to risk being outnumbered.

"Hm, good point." Edward said, surprising his archer friend. He was actually being logical with this?

"Edward? Are you…okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go help the others. I think it's wise if we help them out rather than go on our own." The brunet turned to Ilyana, then headed off to find Sothe and/or Micaiah. The blond bow-user blinked, self-slapped himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. When he found it wasn't a dream, he shook his head. "We should…get going, Ilyana." Leonardo told the thunder mage, who quietly nodded and both followed after Edward. In the back of his mind, Leonardo thought, 'what is the world coming to now?'. Seeing as the fighting stopped in that area, Laura, Aimee and Kurth carefully followed after Leo's group, hopefully to stay within sight of the fighters.

-x-x-x-

"Hmph!" Nolan shrugged off an attack from a lancer, slashing him across his armored chest with his heavy axe. It left a powerful dent; it cracked and lightly stabbed its way into the man's skin. He cringed and fell to the ground, unable to move. The bearded man decided to spare him and move on to the next soldier. He, too, used a lance, and thrust it forward to pierce Nolan's abdomen. That proved useless, as the fighter rolled out of the way in time. His opponent growled in annoyance, rushing Nolan again and attempted to hit him horizontally instead. Again, Nolan avoided the attack by ducking. He performed a quick punch to the soldier's face, knocking him back, bringing his Steel Axe with him as he slashed the man in half, where his waist was left unprotected. Once that was done, Nolan quickly settled for another axe-user, who was shouting insults at him.

Sothe and Micaiah were hurrying across the fray, the thief throwing his knives in the faces of many who were foolish enough to approach him or Micaiah. Should they have dodged—somehow—his knife, they would be met with Micaiah's Thani attack. One soldier was lucky enough to survive Sothe's dagger attacks, however, couldn't withstand the might of the light magic that soon followed after it. The two went through the soldiers like cake mix; it was all too easy, given their experience and their tactics. Some soldiers were smart enough to flee for their lives when they had the chance. When Leonardo's group reformed with them, they were soon approaching the two knights, and a batch of armed soldiers with swords. Perfect!

"Okay, Ryu! There are ten of them dead ahead of you! **Now**!" Sothe called out.

Everyone was wondering what he meant until they turned around and saw Ryu himself. He had his eyes closed, his hands cupped together, but about an inch apart from the other. A ball of light was channeling into the young man's hands, and it grew larger with every second. Deep within the light of magic, a flame ignited mystically, commanded by the blue-haired adolescent himself. _I can do this. Sothe's counting on this attack. It's…not the same one that I used last time…But I feel it'll be much more worthy!_ He separated the magic with his hands, balling them into flaming fists. Ryu spun once, launching the flaming fire attack towards the bunch of Begnion soldiers. "Fireblast!" Ryu shouted the magic command, the pillar of flames singing the unfortunate troops who were either unlucky enough to be caught into the attack or didn't defend. However they tried, it was much too powerful for them to block anyway.

Aimee, Ilyana, and Kurth stared, almost wide-eyed at the magic attack, that hadn't been commanded from a tome! What in the world? "He…must be very talented." Kurth told himself, now studying Ryu from his distance. He stared, hard. Who was this kid? Why did he feel some form of kinsman in him?

The soldiers cried in pain, and either roasting to death, or even to crumbling ashes! The other soldiers who were fortunate enough to not be in the way of the attack shook in fury. They were enraged, and used this newfound anger to kill the one responsible. However, their lone target was blocked off by Nolan, Sothe, Edward, Leonardo, and Ilyana. "Going somewhere?" Nolan asked sarcastically, rushing the next soldier. He barely had time to react, being smacked up against his head with the flat side of Nolan's axe. The ringing sound against his helmet made the soldier cringe and collapse, unable to shake the sound away. Ilyana and Micaiah shared turns taking out an archer who foolishly thought the mages would be easiest to take down. First, the lightning bolts of magic then the array of light magic afterwards. The enemy archer didn't move after that.

Sothe and Edward double teamed a weakened armored knight, who was too slow to dodge their attacks.

Leonardo deterred an axe man's rush against Aimee with an arrow to the idiot's head.

Everything was going exceptionally well for the Dawn Brigade.

"Sir! They're approaching us soon!" A soldier told the man stationed upon his horse. He growled lowly, his Wind Sword in hand tightly. How could they have escaped? The place was guarded from the inside out! If Jarod heard word of this, or if this wasn't quelled quickly, he would be in deep trouble. "Burton, sir. What shall we do?"

"Keep them engaged! They won't be able to last any longer!" the man in charge, Burton, roared.

-x-x-x-

In a matter of minutes, Ryu joined the fray after casting his newly (re)acquired magic, cutting down myrmidons and axe man alike with his swift blade work. With Edward nearby, the two virtually cut through the battlefield like a hot knife through butter. Soon enough, another batch of soldiers entered the scene, one in a dark-blue armor that both Edward and Ryu recognized out of the corner of their eyes. "Hey…It's…him." The brunet told his fellow swordsman. The blue-head nodded, wondering why he was here. Was it because he was stationed here? "I wonder if he's here to help us again."

Laura, on the side, had tended to a wound Nolan acquired while mopping through a few other soldiers all at once. She held her staff over the bearded man's injury, which was a stabbing wound through his left abdomen. The blue ball of magic glowed brightly, pouring out the magical essence of healing, sweeping into Nolan's wound and mending it together as if it were new. It took a quick moment; however, Nolan was up on his feet again, axe in hand. "Thank-you, Laura!" He said, giving a thumb up before returning to the fray.

"A-ah you're welcome! Please be careful!" She shouted back. It was then she spotted the man in dark blue armor as well, waiting around for something. She recognized him, or at least she thought she did. "Hm, that soldier…looks familiar." She said to herself, carefully approaching the soldier. Kurth spotted her go and gasped.

"Laura! Wait! It's too dangerous!" He called to her, hoping she would stay back.

"No! I…I think I know this soldier!" The sister replied, cautiously approaching the man in the armor. When she was close enough for him to hear, she lightly called to him. "…Aran?" She squeaked. If she was wrong, she would probably be skewered or something by his lance. Fortunately for her, the soldier responded, and a face familiar to her locked gazes with her for only a second. Her face brightened up when seeing him. "Aran? I can't believe it! It IS you!" The soldier gasped, both in relief and in surprise.

"Laura!"

"I knew it!" The black-haired girl giggled in delight, then calmed down. "But, Aran, why? Why would any true Daein join sides with Begnion?"

Aran paused. There it was again. That "true Daein" comment. Leonardo, the archer, mentioned that to him earlier. The soldier sighed. "A true Daein? I'm not sure I still am one… Not since a family of merchants from Begnion took me in…" He half repeated to her. "But I could never do anything to hurt you. You've always been like a little sister to me. Get out of here, Laura…while you still have a chance! I'll turn a blind eye."

"But what about Micaiah and Sothe?" She questioned, gesturing to the fighting pair up ahead. "They've risked their lives fighting for the abbot—and for me. I couldn't possibly abandon them now, not even if it meant saving myself!" The sister was so head strong, she locked gazes with the Daein soldier, determined. She may not know how to fight, but she was willing to throw herself out to protect. She had to stay and help the Dawn Brigade! They helped her! It was only fair. After a moment of silence, Aran sighed again.

"Oh bother…"

"What's wrong?"

Aran shook his head again. "I can't keep lying to myself any longer. I know what Begnion is doing in Daein is despicable, and I can't support it. Not anymore."

Laura tilted her head, in hope. "Then…?"

"Then…from now on, I'm fighting for what's right…just like the abbot taught us." Aran took hold of his lance, smiling at Laura, who brightened up even more, if it was possible. "Come on. Let's get you—and everyone else—out of here!" The green-haired soldier told his childhood friend.

"Wonderful! Thank you, Aran. I knew it. You haven't changed a bit. You're as considerate as ever. Your family would have been so proud!" Laura said happily, hugging him for a brief moment. Kurth and Aimee caught up to them, utterly confused. The sister turned to them after releasing her now blushing friend, grinning. "This is Aran! I knew I recognized him earlier. He's going to help us get out of here."

"Really? That's great!" Aimee smiled gratefully.

"Yes." The dark-blue soldier told them, keeping his helmet on, lest his blush from before be noticed. "Stay close behind me. I'll defend you all!" The three nodded, staying as close—but not too close—to Aran as possible. Laura knew they would be safe now with her best friend with them. He had to join these wonderful bandits with her!

-x-x-x-

It was growing near the evening when the Dawn Brigade now neared the last standing soldier, Burton. His men were wiped out by mere children and some old folk. Aran had a chance to show off his lancemanship by felling two myrmidons who foolishly attempted to harm Laura. He would not have any of that! "Let's just get this over with." Sothe muttered, wanting nothing but to end this whole situation. "Hey! Move it or we'll move you for ourselves!" Sothe called out to Burton, who snarled.

"Ehhhh! You won't get away! I'll slice through you like a hot knife through cold butter!" The enraged horse rider bellowed, slashing at Sothe indirectly. His swords attack slashed through the air, cutting it unmercifully. The green-haired teen growled under his breath, dodging and taking Micaiah with him. The crazy swordsman slashed in every direction in attempt to at least fatally wound them all so he could throw them back into the cellular. However, the Dawn Brigade cleverly dodging his attacks, using the terrain to their advantage. Burton steered his horse around and attempted a direct attack against Edward! The brunet gasped, ducking just in time. The brunet upon the horse scowled as he eyed the Silver-Haired Maiden and then the blue-haired "maggot" as his General called him.

"You! Both of you crawl quietly back to your cells, and I'll spare you. More than that, however, I cannot promise."

"Don't be so sure. This isn't our first fight, and it won't be our last." The girl told him defiantly and proudly.

"A brave, yet foolish, sentiment. Before the might of the empire, you lowlives are just cracked dirt beneath my boots!" Burton raged, now coming for them. Ryu blocked the man's sword attack with his own blade, ducking out of the way when he brandished another blade—a Steel Sword—and attempted to slash at his backside. Cowardly! Ryu hissed it under his breath, rolling out of the way. Leonardo fired off an arrow at Burton's head, only to miss by an inch! The archer growled lightly, readying another arrow, however the sword knight was faster; he directed an aerial wind attack at Leonardo, blowing him away and cutting his left shoulder deeply.

"LEO!" Edward roared, enraged.

"Hah! That's what happens when you don't listen to me!" Burton cried triumphantly. Of course, he barely missed the knife thrown at his head by the ever clever Sothe. He dodged by a margin, having turned his horse abruptly. The steed whinnied a loud, turning too hard and crashed to the ground. Burton grumbled in disgust about the horse being stupid, still able to at least fight on foot. After all, he was trained to do so! Before he could get in another hit, however, light magic poured over him, combined with a lightning strike! "Graaaaauuuh!" Burton yelled unintelligently, collapsing to the ground. When he looked up, he saw Aran's face; he recognized it!

"…Y-you! Traitorous…scum!" He spat.

"Pity." Aran simply said before using his lance to stab the life out of his annoying commanding officer. The man cried in agony as blood poisoned the dirt ground below him. He choked, coughed, and in his weary, last breath, he spoke, "Even if you run... There is no place...for you scum...to go..." and soon fell to his death. Edward hurried to his friend's aid, having applied a vulnerary to his bleeding wound.

"I'll heal it on the way out." Ryu told the worried myrmidon. "Right now, we just have to get out of here!"

The entire group nodded in agreement, running around the dead corpses, even leaving the horse, and ran out of the prison camp's gates. They were out of that predicament, and Micaiah hoped they would never have to go through that again. Kurth, even in his distance, kept an eye on Ryu ever since he used that magic spell earlier. Who was this boy? Why did he possess the kinsman feeling of a dragon…? _How strange. Could he be…Of the Branded…?_

* * *

Aaaah, sorry for this crap chapter. I was sorta rushing because the next chapter, I wanted to be hilarious in some way. And interesting. Poor Ryu. xD Oh and yes. Kurth has noticed him! :P Anyway, leave a review if you all want! Thanks for all the faves, adds and all! n.n


	6. A Distant Voice - Call of the Dragon

Three reviews (four technically as two were from the same person) for Chapter 5. Huzzoh!

SixPathscv: Hey! A new reviewer! Yay! :D For your first question, yes, Ryu will definitely have the higher (AP cost) spells such as Inferno, Sirocco, Myollinr, etc. Because I made sure I had my Ryu in-game buffed up with Deis as the master until she could teach him no more as well as Meryleep. I love the Tiamat dragon form; it was actually one of the three forms I planned to have in this story. I just ruined my surprise for the readers, but oh well! The Kaiser breath, I always thought it was Ryu "summoning" the dragon there when I was younger. Took me awhile he actually _transformed_ into it, similar to Ryu and Fou-lu's breath attacks in IV. But yeah, I don't think Ryu will ever need to use Ultimate Kaiser in this story. It's...too overkill. I suppose I can consider it, though. Thanks for your review!

Arcreed: Yeah, it took me awhile to update. I got a job and was distracted by Super Smash Bros. Melee. xD Me? Abandon this story? D: Never! The worse thing I could do is go on hiatus. I'm trying not to go on that. A bunch of my unfinished stories are due to annoying hiatus and Writer's Block of death.

To the Ryu vs Nailah, I see now. He beats her. To me, I'd say she's the second strongest laguz after Tibarn. Well, I can't see how he'd get defeated by her either. xD Urm, maybe when he gets his ability to transform. That's not too far away actually. :D I'm glad you liked the update! I need coffee to pull off another 8-hour-no-breaks day to type out my next chapter. If I don't, it'll take me a few days to type it then like go through proofreading since I lack a beta. Again, thanks for your dedicated reviewing, following and faving of this story, Arcreed.

Shalemaster: Nailah x Ryu? Sounds like one vote for him and her now. If nobody else makes any votes (which is cool with me) I'll consider it. As for Ryu becoming his dragon forms, yes he will, likely on this chapter since it features the laguz bandits. Only one of them at the moment, though.

On a random note unrelated to this story, I suddenly got distracted by the first Breath of Fire game and found my interest in Tales of Symphonia again, so expect another story from me in the FE + BOF crossover section after I reach chapter 8 of this story and a crossover of ToS with either BoF or GS (Golden Sun). More or less the latter.

Oh yes, and I'm including "base conversations" in the next chapter, since that's when they begin. Everyone will have some sort of chat with Ryu, just for kicks! I don't want this to be all so serious, you know? Also, if anyone wants Ryu to go dragon in Chapter 8 (Glory Unwanted via FERD chapters) then I'll go ahead and do that.

Besides all that, I think ya'll will like this chapter. :D I sure do.

Enjoy!

* * *

-x-x-x-

**Part I:** Silver-Haired Maiden; The Dragon Prince

**Chapter VI:** _A Distant Voice; Call of the Dragon_

-x-x-x-

Night fell as quickly as the group escaped the Glaive Prison. Aimee delightfully led them to her companions as well as the caravan itself. It was nice to finally have others of Daein to help them, especially with weapons and a vendor shop. They introduced themselves as Muston, a tall, burly man with a half shaven head of brown hair, mustache and beard, strong, pale grey eyes, and clothed in a light blue shirt and brown pants. The other two were twins, Jorge, a young man in his early twenties, with blond hair in a ponytail. His twin brother, Daniel, had brown hair, also in a ponytail. Both sported kind, blue eyes. With Aimee, the vendor, and Ilyana the Thunder mage, they were finally a complete group.

As promised, Ryu healed Leonardo's injury as soon as they settled down for the night. The campfire was built by Nolan and Edward. Thankfully, this time, they didn't have to go hunt for anything, as Muston had fresh meat loaded in the caravan. When everyone was situated and comfortable around the fire, waiting for dinner to cook thoroughly, Aimee was the first to strike up a conversation.

"Thank you so much...all of you." She began, smiling. "Because of your bravery, Ilyana and I have finally rejoined the merchant caravan." The Dawn Brigade members nod respectively to her thanks, smiling as well. "Still, coming back to Nevassa, I'm stunned at the terrible state of things. Who would have thought that Begnion would rule with such an iron fist? They run your nation with boundless cruelty, looting the towns and then having the audacity to sending your able-bodied men to camps." The woman in pink sighed in digust. "It just breaks my heart."

"It breaks all of our hearts, really." Leonardo added.

"They make me miss Ashnard, Daein's late 'Mad King.' And I never thought I'd say that!" Jorge said, almost in a desperate manner. "At least he never tried to destroy Crimea as a country."

"What do you mean by that?" Micaiah asked.

Daniel was next to speak up. "People make a country. One person-even a noble king-does not make a country. And a strong country only exists when its people are strong. As Begnion crushes the citizenry, it slowly destroys Daein." He explained. Each member of the Dawn Brigade exchanged looks with one another, but knowingly agreed to his words. He was right, after all.

Jorge shook his head, almost irritably if one looked close enough. "The dastards are treating Daein like a nation of slaves. If this persists, Daein's strength will be sapped, and the nation itself will cease to be. I'd hate for that to ever happen to Daein, let alone another country."

"Then what should we do?" Micaiah asked in hope, having a new resolve in her eyes. "How can we save our country from despair as that?"

"There is a rumor." The blond haired twin began. "If it's true, then we may have some hope..."

It was around this time that Muston appeared, arms crossed slightly and looking down on the blond-haired vendor. "Look here, Jorge. Don't go spouting off rumors."

"No! I want to know about it! If there's a shred of hope, then please tell me." The silver-haired girl pleaded. Anything, even rumors, that there was hope to freeing Daein, she would take it. It would be better than sitting and doing nothing about it. Watching the nation wither was not on her list of options, and she would refuse otherwise. There had to be something out there to help them out of this disaster.

"Well, the rumor is that King Ashnard left an orphan behind." Jorge began, lighting up everyone's, except the caravan company's, attention.

"R-really? Is that true!?" Micaiah gasped, looking at Sothe, who had been observing the conversation quietly. His gaze of hope met the light mage's; if this rumor was indeed true, then perhaps they could finally free Daein. Still, this rumor was surprising to Sothe in many ways. The green-haired thief glanced over the twins and Muston. "King Ashnard had a child? Why have I never heard of this?" He asked, feeling a little unsure. Edward, Leonardo and Nolan exchanged glances for themselves. They, too, never heard of this either. Ryu, on the other hand, had been staring into the fire but his ears heard it all.

_So, that means...he's a prince?_ The blue-haired swordsman wondered, feeling an odd sense of comparison approaching him for some reason. That was strange.

"It's just a rumor-nothing more." Daniel reminded her. "But if it's true, it would be a strike of great fortune for Daein."

"In the last war, Crimea used a scion of the royal family to unify its people and rally a liberation army." Jorge added. "So could Daein."

"And drive out those loathsome Begnion!" Aimee finished.

Micaiah and Sothe glanced at one another, then to the rest of the Dawn Brigade. Laura simply smiled with hopeful joy, Aran nodded, Nolan just gave them an approving look, and Edward and Leonardo mimicked Aran's nod. However, Ryu, having been preoccupied by the fire, hadn't so much as moved from his spot. This worried the light mage and thief; they'd question him later about it. Turning back to Jorge and Daniel, Micaiah asked, "So where is this orphan?"

The twins pondered for a second before the blond brother spoke up. "Well, according to the rumors, he's in the east, near the Desert of Death, trying to raise an army to lay claim to the throne." Noticing the light shine in his audience's eyes, he proceeded with a "Shall we go there?" question. Ryu visibly flinched at the sound of "Desert of Death", however not many noticed it, except Edward and Leonardo of course. They wondered if Ryu had a fear of deserts or places that were extremely hot...

"Hm, well Micaiah, what do you think?" Sothe asked next.

For a moment, the girl closed her eyes, as if she suddenly had a vision. The Dawn Brigade members, sans Aran and Laura, knew what this meant and was already on the rise for it. "...In the desert..." She began, pausing lightly. "An important encounter awaits us. It shall be one that changes the shape of our future." Micaiah opened her eyes, staring at Sothe, then to her companions again.

"Well, that settles it then. We must go to the desert and meet our destiny." Sothe says, then, "We should eat and rest up tonight. We'll be traveling for awhile to get to the desert from here."

"Hm, well, we should be prepared. I shall go to the nearest town and supply us with any food and water we can purchase." Muston said. While he didn't agree on rumors, it was something the others wanted to do, and all he could do was support them. When everyone was done talking, Ryu finally managed to shake from his random daze. He stood up from his spot just as Nolan was checking the meat, walking off in a short distance with his head bowed. The others curiously wonder, with Jorge speaking up to break the awkward silence.

"Did...we make him uncomfortable?" He asked, puzzled.

"No, I don't think so." Micaiah answers, gazing in the direction Ryu disappeared to. "Have you noticed he was...well, not really paying attention?"

"During the conversation? I noticed." Sothe replied. "I wonder what's up..."

"There may be some things on his mind. Perhaps he went to get some fresh air and think on them alone." Nolan advised. "Of course, I do hope he doesn't go too far. Begnion are still after us."

"...I'm going to talk to him." The silver-haired girl concludes, getting up from her own spot.

"I'll go with you." Sothe adds, also standing up. "We'll be back." Both walked out in the same direction their blue-haired companion left, leaving the rest of the group.

-x-x-x-

About five miles away from the camp, Ryu settled himself beside a large tree and near a small stream, having shed of his silver armor plates, and his bloodied, once-white shirt. Thankfully, he had chainmail underneath, which surprisingly didn't have any blood on it, but it was taken off now for the time being. The light, chilly breeze blew against his now bare back, chest and arms, which were all toned with fine muscles a young man his age should have. It was all due to training, long lengths of travel, and of course, something else he couldn't put his mind to. The swordsman allowed his shirt and the other white clothing strips he had on wade in the water for awhile before taking a forging of leaves to attempt to scrape the dried blood from them.

_A prince waiting in the Desert of Death. Why does this...sound so familiar to me?_ He pondered, sighing. _The whole goddess thing was awkward but now this? How is this coincidence? And then that dream!_ The blue-haired youth glanced up to the night sky's dark canvas, almost gazing at it with melancholy. _Who was that girl with the wings? How did she know me? Why did she believe in me? What's going...on?_ Ryu slapped a hand over his forehead with irritation. Images were blasting themselves at rapid pace in his mind, and he couldn't control them. Just what was being shown to him? Why couldn't he focus?

_Ugh...So many things at once. I can't..._ Ryu grumbled to himself, only to stop when he heard the faintest of footsteps approaching him. Taking no chances, he placed his unoccupied hand onto the sheath of his blade, preparing to strike down the intruder, should it be a Begnion spy. When the footsteps drew closer, his senses indicated they were friendly, and he recognized them; as he glanced up, his blue eyes came in contact with Sothe's and Micaiah's similarly pale gold ones.

"Ryu, there you are." The light mage smiles warmly.

"We've been looking for you." Her companion adds after.

They both take a seat near him, Ryu quietly smiling to their presence regardless. "I'm sorry for worrying you all. I just needed time to myself."

"That's what Nolan said." Micaiah says after.

"Does having time to yourself include laundry?" Sothe chuckled, the other two laughing just as lightly to the thief's joking.

"No, but I was just cleaning my shirt. It had blood from the previous weeks' injuries. We hardly had time to really sit down and clean up, if you know what I mean." The light-wielder noticed that Ryu didn't have a shirt on and blushed deeply. Thankfully, she was able to shake her thoughts away and took note of the young man's recovering stab wound he was inflicted with when protecting Leonardo from that mercenary, Isaiya. He was completely fine now; you couldn't tell he was even stabbed at all.

"I see." Sothe commented. "Is there anything you wanted to talk about?"

"Hm?"

"You were zoning out when we were discussing about the rumor earlier."

"Ah, that... I was actually listening in." Ryu admitted. "Sorry if it seemed like I wasn't. For some reason, the word "prince" and the phrase "Desert of Death" ring a bell to me. Like, some part of my memory just snapped back."

"Really?" Micaiah chirped in, smiling. "That's great news, Ryu."

"Yeah, but it's not a lot to go off with."

"It's better than being with nothing to remember." Sothe added truthfully. Ryu simply nodded. "Anyway, so what's going on? Are you all right? Besides the zoning...out?"

"I'm fine." Ryu replied after a moment. "However...I had a...this may sound odd, but I had a dream when I was in that cell hours earlier." The two remained silent, allowing Ryu to continue on. "In it, I saw a young woman, probably about my age. She was wearing all red, and she had white wings coming from her back."

"A woman with white wings on her back?" Sothe repeated, the swordsman nodding. "It sounds oddly like a heron noble."

"Pardon? A heron noble?"

"Yes. They're apart of the race called laguz, which are half beast, half human appearing people that live here on Tellius that have the ability to transform into birds, beasts or dragons." Sothe explained, causing Ryu to flinch at the 'dragon' bit. Both the mage and thief took notice of this easily, now concerned. "What? What happened?"

Ryu stared at them, still in half shock. "Did you...say these laguz can transform...into dragons?"

"Yeah, I did." Sothe confirmed. "Dragon Laguz are the strongest of any of the laguz tribes. They're huge and powerful. The red ones are very defensive and the white ones are magically defensive. I've only seen one white dragon and red one in my lifetime. Well, it was pink more so, being a descendant of both a white and a red dragon." Ryu sponged the information in very quickly, his mind nearly coming to some realization. But, he couldn't exactly hit it. Why? "There are black dragons, too. They're normally apart of the royalty of the dragon tribe. I know this because in the last war, King Ashnard used a warped form of a black dragon laguz as his wyvern mount."

"...I see..." Ryu finally spoke, closing his eyes. Why did the term 'dragons' cause him to stiffen like so? What connection did he have with them? In his dream, he saw dragons being slain. Maybe it was a memory he had once had but forgotten? Perhaps he, too, was one of these Dragon Laguz and simply didn't know it? That was a possibility, seeing as his name literally meant "dragon". This was all too confusing.

He sighed, shaking from the confusion, continuing onto what he was going to say. "But, I know she wasn't a...heron. She could have been, but I'm not sure. She simply said she believed in me, and then everything started to crumble." He half finished, leaving out the genocide of dragons out of it. It was best if he didn't tell them that yet. "After that, well, that's when I heard Micaiah's voice call to me and wake me up from that dream." Both he and the girl of name gave each other glances, then turned away. After a moment of utter silence, Ryu looked up to them both, smiling genuinely.

"Sorry for all that. I guess my...brooding wasn't helpful at all."

"Don't say that, Ryu. Everyone needs an outlet in some way or another." The light mage assured him.

"Ah a-alright then."

"Well, if there's anything else you'd like for us only to know about, then don't hesitate to pull us aside." Sothe volunteered, standing up. "I think you'd probably want to be left alone for awhile." Micaiah stood up as well though kept her gaze upon their blue-haired friend.

Ryu nodded, looking up to them from his sitting position. "Yeah, just for awhile. I want to clear my mind, is all. Thank-you for listening to me."

"You're welcome." Both responded simultaneously. "See you back at the campsite, then." Sothe waved, beginning to walk off with Micaiah. Ryu watched them go, their figures soon disappearing beyond a few trees that surrounded their area. When they were gone and out of sight, he sighed deeply, taking his long since soaked white shirt and other clothing out of the wading water. Seeing as the blood spots hadn't fully washed off, he frowned and groaned in complaint.

"That's never good. I was never a great person in...laundry anyway." It was then, that he gasped a bit. He repeated what he said: I was 'never' a great person in laundry? Since when did he know that? Perhaps, it was his memory that was finally jogging! "I...wow. I guess, subconsciously, I'm remembering little by little." He laid his top clothes near him to dry a little, as much as it could while he washed his face in the same stream. The chill of the cold water splashing against his timid skin was frigid but it would shoot anyone awake instantly. When the disturbed water returned to its quiet, flowing form, Ryu stared into it, noticing his reflection. Something about it was different.

He squinted his eyes while the moon above provided him as much light as it could. When he could clearly see his own self, his eyes widened like dinner plates at the revelation.

There was a _red mark_ on his forehead, under his bangs, the shape of a _misaligned_,_ slanted, lowercased _"_T_". That hadn't been there before, nor did Ryu recall of him ever being hit there, either. Maybe it was a random scar he acquired when Begnion literally enslaved him into their service? After all, he was unconscious when they found him anyway, so maybe it was a possibility But why hadn't it shown itself sooner? He wondered to himself. He tried wiping it to see if it was a scar; no effect. Maybe it'll go away tomorrow morning...

Ryu shrugged off the mark for now, deciding to head back to the campsite. He gathered his things and set off in the same direction Micaiah and Sothe took a few minutes prior. After all, worrying his friends was not on his list.

However, as Ryu was leaving, a set of red eyes had been watching him closely...

"...He has the same mark as me. He must be a dragon. There's no mistake about it."

-x-x-x-

The next morning came as swiftly as the wind blew by. Yune's chirping alarmed the group it was time to get up, however that wasn't the only thing that woke them up. The sweet smell of cooking food did. When the Dawn Brigade members rose from their sleeping cots (which had been provided by Muston), they were shocked to see that many a bowls with food filled with them were set out and waiting. Breakfast? This was new! "Whoa." Edward stared wide-eyed. "What's this?"

"It's Shisu." Ryu answered, being over a make-shift wooden table he made personally, cutting fish that had been caught prior. There was a bowl full of white rice, another bowl with vinegar, and some radish. The others stared at him in awe and astoundment. He had a shirt on this time, but it was a simple, white tunic shirt, provided by Daniel, and a padded breastplate. Thankfully. But what stunned them was: Ryu...knew how to cook?! Sensing the others were giving him odd looks, he laughed lightly.

"Since when did you know how to cook?" Leonardo asked first.

"Uh, well, I don't know." He answered honestly, everyone comically falling down to this. When they regained their composure, Ryu continued. "Something in my head just sprung this recipe to memory and well, I asked Muston if he had any food that required the ingredients. He went out to purchase the rice and the radish in town as well as fresh meat, vegetables and fruit. Jorge and I went fishing out by the stream, and Daniel helped prepare a fire. So, we all worked together on this." Ryu put the knife down he was using to cut the fish, now grinding some rice over it, adding enough vinegar, radish and kneading it together. It didn't take long as now another shisu was finished. Wow!

When the group hadn't touched their food in the bowls, Ryu pointed to them. "You know, you should try it before it gets too cold."

"Oh!" The Dawn Brigade members chimed together, taking their bowls in the same manner as well. Each tried a bite of the shisu. Each chewed, swallowed and stared. The blue-haired swordsman blinked, wondering if it was good or bad. From the looks of it, he felt it was terrible. Was it really that bad?

"Uh..." He motioned but was abruptly cut off by Leonardo.

"This is...This is...!" He paused, sighing in utter relief.

"The best thing I've ever eaten!" Edward added.

"I've never eaten such a fine delicacy as this." Nolan pitched in.

"It's really good!" Micaiah.

"Very well done, indeed. Tasty, too. I can even taste the vinegar and rice mix." Sothe.

"Mmm!" Laura moaned in delight.

"Thank-you." Aran.

"...So...good..." Ilyana praised. "The best food...I've tasted so far..."

Ryu smiled at the praise and great feedback from his friends. It's a good thing it turned out good. The blue-haired swordsman chuckled as the group continued eating their batch of shishu, continuing to make more for the caravan company as well as for their guest, Kurth. When he finished his next batch of shisu, he offered to Muston, Jorge, Daniel and Aimee. All four, having heard the joyous satisfaction of the Dawn Brigade, decided to try for themselves. Needless to say, it was delicious! When Kurth came to the scene, he was offered his share of the meal. The pilgrim mimicked the others' satisfaction of such, it made him want to skip around. Not that he would, of course. Chef Ryu's shisu was heavenly as it came this morning, even Yune got some.

_I'm glad it turned out well._ Ryu thought. _Thank-you, memory, for allowing me to remember._ After this, they would have to set out for many a days travel.

-x-x-x-

Days passed as the group traveled in the nation of Daein, heading eastward and of course, out of Begnion's way. Ryu had volunteered to cook for the small company, as everyone agreed to not only the shisu, but to his other genius dishes. The steak with sweetened herb rice was a good one, and Edward's favorite thus far. On day seven through the annoyingly hot desert, as the myrmidon put it. They came across a young girl in armor, with brown hair tied in two, short ponytails, small brown eyes and a round face, named Meg. She was invited into the group when they reached the desert on the day prior.

"Ugh, it's so hot." The brunet complained, gaining many a sigh from his companions. "Where exactly is this prince, anyway? How could he be in this huge desert?"

"He just might be, Edward." Leonardo told him with patience.

They suddenly stop however when Micaiah did, her eyes closed. Sothe was the first to react, being the sharp one he was. "Micaiah? What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. I sense...something. There's a presence here that calls out to me." She replied, feeling that foreboding sensation again. Nolan and Leonardo eyed her quizzically, though not doubtfully. Edward put his hands behind his head, concerned, but trying to relax and keep himself from complaining about the heat.

"All right, Micaiah, you and I should look into this. Everyone else, check the surroundings." Sothe instructed.

"Got it. Everybody, keep on your guard." Nolan advised, taking the boys, Edward and Leonardo, with him as well as Aran and Laura, and lastly, Meg, to survey the area. Sothe and Micaiah headed off on their own direction and Ryu followed after them. He was getting a weird feeling in his gut. The two teens noticed his presence and found it best to stay together. Sothe found amazement in the ruins of the desert they found, mentioning the laguz again. Listening to the thief again on this subject, Ryu began to ponder if he, too, were one of them. He had odd sensations about them anyway, so maybe...? No. That was possibly just pure coincidence. There was no way he had any connections to dragons. During the Daein "lovers" quarrel about a person named "Ike", the blue-haired swordsman half zoned them out, just puzzled.

Him. Dragons. Desert of Death. Prince. Girl with wings. All of these thoughts plagued him, roared in his mind and flashing images to him at once, again. Why were they so important? Were they keys to unlocking his lost memory? If so, how? What shook Ryu out of his zoning was Sothe's, "Pish! I know that. Everyone knows that." comment. Everyone knew what? His blue eyes concentrated upon the green-haired young man, wondering. Did he just miss out on something? Before he could ask, Yune began chirping loudly.

"Yune? What is it?" The silver-haired girl questions. Soon, the bird flies off in another direction. "Yune, wait! Where are you going?" Micaiah, Sothe and Ryu quickly follow after the orange canary, eventually reaching a room full of...

"Incredible!" Micaiah gasped.

"Mounds of treasure!" Sothe added on, eyes widening at all the gold, chests and treasure scattered about. This place was basically any thief's haven. "Maybe it was the gold calling you, Micaiah?" He teased, which earned a light chuckle escape the girl's lips. Ryu, having caught up, stared agape too. He'd never seen this much treasure before, if he had ever seen treasure that is. There were piles of it everywhere and anyone greedy of the heart would take it all. The three friends step down the stairs leading into this vast room full of shining gold that sparkled everywhere, gazing in complete awe and wonder. There was so much, what would they do with it?

"Maybe we can use this." Sothe said. He caught Micaiah's frown and sighed. "Okay, some of it, then. We could really use the money this sells to buy supplies, you know."

"I know, but you know how I am about money like that..." the girl reminds.

"I know, I know."

"Grrrauuah! What is this?! Looks like a tasty snack turned up while we were out!" A deep, growling voice echoed through the room, startling the three. Sothe stood in front of Micaiah protectively, pulling out his daggers defensively. The light mage whipped out her Thani tome and Ryu stood behind Micaiah, nearly sandwiching her between him and Sothe, taking out his sword as well.

"Was that me, or did that sound like...growling?" The swordsman asked out of the blue, no pun intended on the color.

"You were right. It was growling... Oh no... I hope it isn't what I think it is." Sothe confirmed, sweating lightly.

From the corners of the room, two large tigers appeared, one was a magenta-like shade and the other was violet colored. Perplexed, Ryu stared at them. He's never seen tigers of those colors before. In fact, the only tiger he's met was a golden orange color! Wait. Did I...just recall something? He wondered to himself, eyes shrinking to the size of peas. It had to have been a lost memory! I'm...remembering things by seeing other things. I think that's how I can remember. He smiled to himself at the realization, however, kept his focus sharp. These two creatures didn't seem all too friendly.

"Mwah-ha-ha! Our first prey in a long time. Leave them to me, my fang-brothers!" Laughed another voice. Was it coming from the laguz? Soon, a few more laguz, five more, came out. They were yellow, brown, and tan colored...cats? Ryu wasn't so sure, but they were bigger than house cats, that was for sure. Then, six gray colored tigers came out as well. That totaled to around thirteen enemies. Great.

"Ugh, not good. Laguz bandits!" Sothe groaned. "Just what I wish we never ran into."

"..." Micaiah dotted silently.

"What can we do?" Ryu asked next.

"We have no choice _but_ to fight them. Trying to get the others here won't do any good." Sothe answered. "Plus, they have us completely surrounded." Thinking of what to do next quickly, the thief glances to the girl first. "Micaiah, use your magic from a distance. I'll close in and finish them off. Ryu, I want you to stay by Micaiah's side and guard her. If you can, use fire magic. It's effective to beast laguz."

"Got it." Both replied quickly, seeing as the laguz bandits were closing in.

"Gwah-hah-hah-hah! Let's eat, my fang brothers! Agony, are you ready?" the magenta tiger laughs.

"Hah-hah-hah! I sure am, Pain!" the purple tiger roars in agreement.

Sweat beaded down Sothe's face as he heard the roaring of the tigers, calling themselves Pain and Agony. Well, whoever named them that surely thought they would cause such to anyone who crossed their paths. Unfortunately, it had to be them. He recalled his fights against laguz, however, it wasn't from 'sane' laguz. They had been warped by a drug, forced to stay in their beast forms forever and fight until death. It also shortened their life span; the memory was terrible and caused a chilly sensation around Sothe. At that time is when he finally realized the laguz were also living beings, misused by his own countryman.

After a long stalemate of staring, the yellow cat laguz raced forward first, aiming at Sothe. The skilled thief dodged its oncoming attack, striking underneath it's left open abdomen as it sailed above his head. The cat went down and another replaced it, hissing. Twelve to go. Micaiah opened her tome and with her twirl, commanded the light spell to strike the cat coming after Sothe. Blinded and struck by the light, Sothe took the opportunity to stab it through its neck, killing it. He jumped away in time to dodge his next two attackers, a pair of brown cats. They hissed and snarled, both managing to hit Sothe, scarring him across his face and his left arm.

"Ugh!" Sothe cringed, the claw marks left on his face and arm now opening and blood dripped from them. This only strengthened the rogue to fight more. He had to end this. When the cats ran for him again, Sothe gathered his strength together, twirling his daggers, gritting his teeth.

"Sothe!" Micaiah called out, hoping he would dodge or do something!

The cats lunged and missed! Sothe rolled underneath them, a red light sparked from his weapons. He attacked them at the same time, cutting them apart through their backs when he leapt up from behind, jarring his daggers deep through their skin. They hissed and roared in pain, falling down to their end. Micaiah sighed in relief that Sothe was fine. "Don't do that, you scared me."

"Sorry." He responded. The single tan cat and the six gray tigers were left, as well as the purple and magenta tigers, too. Nine more to go.

The single tan cat charged around Sothe, aiming for Ryu now, however, the swordsman held up his blade to defend himself from being hit. He pushed the tan beast back, which retaliated with a bounding claw attack! Ryu groaned slightly, holding up his hand as the magic he once knew rose up in his veins. "Fireblast!" He yelled, the magic of fire came to his voice, erupting around the tan cat laguz, incinerating it to a burnt corpse. The other laguz snarled and growled in vengeance. This human knew fire spells! They had to rid of him first! The gray tigers roared next as they all charged at Ryu as well as Micaiah!

"Kill the magic users!" One tiger roared to its comrades, who hissed in agreement.

The swordsman stood in the way of their path to Micaiah, sword raised to attack. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any opening as the bulky tigers pounced on top of him, using their claws to tear him to shreds!

"No!" Micaiah cried in horror as Sothe blazed towards the pile up. The girl summoned up another magic spell, commanding it against the six tigers that piled upon Ryu. They were all hit, three of them being confused by the sudden light attack. Ryu recovered thankfully, however, had marked scars across his face as well, his new shirt was blood stained and torn as well as his pants. Somehow, they didn't snag his gloves; not that they could. His wild, electric blue hair was even more untamed. Blood stained his shiny hair and he couldn't open his left eye. Sothe growled furiously as he swept a tiger off its feet then slashing three times to kill it. Ryu took this open opportunity to summon up another Fireblast spell to roast the other two that had attacked him.

Now, they were down to six.

Sothe was visibly panting, being tired out. He was only a human after all, and these laguz had so much power. Ryu was panting too, though not as much as Sothe, but close. Micaiah felt worried for them, wondering how much they could take. The remaining three tigers were growling and closing in, swinging their tails as if they enjoyed this. Surely they did, except the fact their companions were falling, one by one. Ryu and Sothe remained in front of Micaiah as her shields, bent on protecting her and somehow, getting their asses out of this predicament.

"Humans... so weak! Heheh, let's get them while they're soft!" one of the tigers said, joined by its cohorts. They spread out a little ways then began to pounce forward, claws first, teeth next! Sothe and Ryu grimaced in unison, holding up their weapons to block the attacks. The laguz traded blows with the teenagers, inflicting more damage than they ever could. Sothe was now bleeding from his forward, which stained his evergreen locks, his right arm and now the ground as he knelt to one knee. Ryu was grazed upon his back, the swordsman panting alongside his friend even more. "This almost seems impossible." Sothe groaned, gripping his daggers. "They're strong and fast. We're just beorc. We can't possibly..."

"No, we have to...keep trying." Ryu reminded him, out of breath. "Even if we're just...mere beorcs, humans, we have to try."

"Don't give up!" Micaiah cheered them on, noticing the tigers were well on their way to finish them off! "Oh no you don't!" The girl sparkled with even more light, her hair flowing with the breeze of magic that emitted from her quick chanting. When finished suddenly, she spun and allowed the giant ball of light energy burn through the three tigers, singing them like fire would. However, one tiger managed to live through it, steadily coming forward after Micaiah's critical hit. Sothe growled angrily, twirling one of his daggers and throwing it straight at the gray beast. It didn't even see it coming! Once it was down, the only ones left were the two, miscolored tigers, as Ryu thought.

Seeing as their band of laguz bandits were felled by mere beorc, they decided to "have their fun" now. Sothe and Ryu managed to stand up, still trying to regain their breath. They remained stationed in front of Micaiah, bent on protecting her still. "Mwah-ha-ha! Come here so I can taste you!" Pain laughed, joined by his brother, Agony.

"Grrruah! Puny little humans, come and fight!"

Micaiah shook her head, hoping to reason with them now. "Wait...!"

"Mwah-ha-ha! Beorc are good eats!" Pain laughed again, making the three teens shudder slightly.

"Listen up, we didn't intentionally intrude on your territory." The light mage explained again. "We do not want your treasures, and we mean no ill will. Step back, and we won't harm you." Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears.

"Mwah-ha-ha! I'll listen...while I'm gnawing on your bones!" Pain replied, growling hungrily.

"Oooohhhh...a beorc mage. Shiny, sparkly magic makes me soooo scared." Agony mocked, earning him a pair of gold and blue daggers from Sothe and Ryu respectively. "If the fire don't roar like a furnace, it don't scare me! Mwah-ha-ha! I'm gonna rip your throat out!" He was apparently alluding to fire magic, which Ryu did have on him! However, aforementioned teen was exhausted but he knew he could pull it off if he had time. Time, something they didn't have. But, they could _make_ it!

"Guys...I can...use another fire spell, but I need some time." Ryu panted, whispering under his breath as lowly as possible without the two tigers knowing.

"I can stall as long as I can..." Sothe replied.

"I'll help." Micaiah chimed in quietly.

Ryu stared at her with his only eye. "But..."

"I'll be okay! Just do it! We'll be fine if we work together."

Stunned by this fact, Ryu couldn't help but smile slightly. He shouldn't have doubted Micaiah. She was the reason why they had gotten this far into their journey to save Daein. A few bandits weren't going to stop them, either. "Okay. Be careful."

"We will."

Sothe took out another dagger of his; however, this one was coated in a purplish coating, its edge jagged as if meant to cut through flesh. He had purchased it from Muston's weapon shop prior to coming to the desert as a precaution. A beastslayer. "Come on, Micaiah!" Sothe shouted, charging right for Agony first. The purple tiger laughed in mirth as the puny beorc raced towards him foolishly.

"Mwah-hah-hah! First to die? I'll have fun snacking on you!" The laguz readied himself. When his green-haired target was close, he lunged forward, claws first. Sothe skidded to a sudden stop, holding the beast slayer up as defense. Agony came down upon him roughly, flattening Sothe against the dusty ground. The rogue was having difficulty keeping up with the powerful tiger, his labored breathing continued to wear him down, strength being sapped as the beast's weight slowly crushed him. This wasn't exactly how he planned to 'stall'!

"Sothe!" Micaiah called out in panic, summoning yet another critical to the tiger laguz upon her friend. The light surged through Agony, him writhing in...agony over it. Sothe saw his opportunity and flipped to his feet using his back, acrobatically. With a bellowing cry, he stabbed Agony with the beast slayer twice through the loin, then back around to his neck. Sothe stumbled back after his own attack, panting heavier. The silver-haired girl barely caught him by the shoulders.

"Grrrua...gack! What happened to me..." Agony growled before falling dead. His blood poisoned the ground and the sand that was now his grave. Seeing his dead brother, Pain growled furiously. How dare these humans come and kill his brother!

Ryu, having noticed the triumph teamwork of Micaiah and Sothe, sighed in relief when the green-haired rogue was alive and unharmed from Agony's attack, at least. However! From the corner of his eye, he saw a sneak attack; another pair of gray tigers roared, charging straight for Micaiah from behind! Ryu's only eye widened. "MICAIAH! WATCH OUT!" He shouted, a bubbling sensation pressed into his heart. The girl turned around, gasping, frozen there.

"Aaaaaaahhh!" Micaiah wailed, frightened. Sothe spun around and met with one of the tigers, however he got knocked aside with a swipe of a claw. Pain smirked when the stupid human who killed his brother was swatted away like a fly. "SOTHE!" The girl cried again. Now, the gray tigers were inching closer towards Micaiah! The light mage backed away from them, fear evident in her eyes. She started up a light spell, but the laguz's roars scared her to stop. What could she do!? One of them clawed at the girl, scraping her against her left arm and tearing a bit of her tunic in the process. Micaiah tumbled harshly against the ground, bleeding heavily.

"MICAIAH!" Sothe roared as he sat up in time to see it happen. Angered beyond anything else, he lunged at the tiger who hit her, tearfully slashing at the beast with unmatched speed and newfound strength. He failed to protect her! His best friend! Angry tears forced their way down his face as he tried with all his might to stop them. His heartbeat accelerated as he raced for the next one, cutting into it like butter. When both tigers were dead, Sothe rushed to Micaiah's side, holding her limp body. "Micaiah! Micaiah! Please! Open your eyes! You can't die here!"

Ryu fell to his knees. With everything he witnessed, he was in a state of shock. He couldn't move. But something thudded against him. It sounded like a heartbeat. Was it...his? It was a shaky feeling, something warm, powerful and deep was forcing its way up his spine, determined to be unleashed. The urge, Ryu fought it. His hands trembled, his breathing labored, and his head held down. Why was it so hard to let it go? What was trying to come out? More magic, possibly? Yes, it had to be! But it felt...different. Something he knew how to do, but couldn't exactly put his mind on it. He was confused.

"Grwwaaah! You puny humans! You'll die for that!" Pain growled angrily. "You see pain now! PAIN!" He began running, gaining speed and when he was ready he lunged straight at Sothe and the unconscious Micaiah! The green-haired teenager looked up to see the tiger above him. He weakly raised his dagger, prepared to protect his most treasured friend one last time.

_I'm not afraid...! I _**will**_ protect Micaiah!_ Sothe told himself. Ryu snapped up to see the furious beast now lunging for his friends again! It was then that urge from before radiated over him.

-x-x-x-

_NO! I won't let it happen again! NEVER!_

_No more death! No more!_

The heartbeat pounded louder. Ryu gripped his head. What was happening? All he could see were his friends and that they needed him! His help! He had to help! He struggled to maintain the power that surged through him, but it got the best of him anyway.

Ryu cried a loud, tears flooding from his own eyes as clear images of those slain dragons pictured themselves into his mind. He screamed loudly enough for the entire ruins to tumble down to even more than just dust and rubble. A light emblazed itself over him, catching the attention of Sothe and his assailant. In the light, Ryu's form was...shifting. Scales decorated his arms and legs as they replaced his skin. His ears grew longer, only by a margin and pointy, much like a human form laguz's. Horns protruded from the top of his head, his hair swayed out longer and was painted in a golden color. Out of his back were large, sharp, bat-like wings. He kept his pants somewhat, however the rest of his shirt had melted or burned off. Lastly, a strong, whip-like tail swung out from behind him.

When the light was gone, standing in Ryu's place...was something not even a laguz had seen before! Sothe stared, agape, while the tiger laguz kept charging to Sothe! The greenet noticed and cringed. However, before the tiger got an inch closer towards Sothe and Micaiah, the creature that was once Ryu snapped quickly and raced in blinding speed to snatch the magenta furball by its throat. His eyes were a deep, red color, and a golden aura emanated from his body. The rogue could only stare in horror. Who was this guy and what did he do to Ryu!? Maybe...he IS Ryu? Was it possible that...Ryu...was a laguz?

"...Impossible... He didn't even..." Sothe whispered to himself but couldn't finish.

"Grah! Y-you...Dragon...!" Pain hissed, having noticed this familiar power. It was similar to the Dragon tribe laguz, but maybe even more stronger. "Le-let go!"

The dragon man tightened his grip, and scowled under his breath. He lowered his arm and slowly dropped the tiger. Pain then shifted out of his beast form, growling furiously. "Heh! Puny humans can transform into laguz...This...be odd." He mentioned. As he was scrambling off, Sothe's eyes widened.

"H-he's getting away...!"

However, the dragon man shook his head, and with one arm held up in the direction of Pain's scurrying, he simply said: **"**Inferno.**"**

The magical power flowed from the dragon person to his opened palm, which then spread out like a wildfire eruption underneath Pain. The giant pillars of fire scorched his feet, then torched him to nothing but ashes. Unfortunately, most of the treasure in the chamber had been burnt by the attack. It didn't matter, anyway. After a brief moment of silence, the once-Ryu dragon person-thing, Sothe couldn't tell, walked towards the injured pair. At first, Sothe held up his dagger, but the soft whimpering of Micaiah's voice caught him.

"...Don't..." She mumbled. "It's...It's R...yu."

"What? That's Ryu?" He half repeated. When they locked gazes, the dragon person simply nodded. Talking in this form seemed hard. Sothe couldn't believe it though! Regardless, Ryu placed his hands over both of them and murmured the spell of Restore. The healing light emanated from him again, now surrounding the two, covering their injuries and mending them on the spot. Once that was done, Micaiah slowly regained her breath, now sitting up slowly with the help of Sothe. It had been quiet for awhile, the two staring at Ryu and his transformed state.

Sothe, on the other hand, was still in disbelief.

_Ryu...was a laguz the whole time..._

* * *

Lol ending the chapter, yayzorz! Whoot! Ryu finally transforms! :D Betcha ya'll saw that one coming though...

Ah yes, I had to put some form of comedy in this chapter. I loved typing the shisu part, even though it was the most hated part in the game. Not for me, of course. I don't see why people hate it so much in Breath of Fire III. Ah yeah, as for the red mark, I took it from Breath of Fire I Ryu. I'm one of those fans who believe II Ryu and III Ryu are basically reincarnations of I Ryu (and the obvious Ryu before him). So yeah. I wanted to include that because to me, it's like "mark of the dragon", since I Ryu is a Reshiram, I mean a light dragon. (Ha-ha, see what I did there? -shot-) Yeah... And it would make sense in this sort of story.

Oh yes, I altered (and sorta shortened) the laguz bandit fight. Normally in-game, it has Micaiah "teleport by some magical means" the entire party in battle position to fight the laguz, but I'm trying to make it a bit realistic here. XD Anyhoots, enough of my ramblings. I stayed up from 12am to 5:07am to type all of this. Please leave a review if you wish. (So that my typing doesn't go in vain xD)


	7. The Lost Heir - A Realization

So, happy New Year, folks! I know I'm late on that. I was busying myself with this chapter here and (trying to) getting out of my Tales of Symphonia and Abyss craze. I pretty much said "screw the Wii for now" and use the game script. I'll just have to wing it with it for a bit longer. I'm going to do the best I can so it won't be direct copy and paste. I hate doing that.

Review responses to chapter 6:

**drake202:** I PM'd you I'm sure I did and responded to your review. If I remember correctly, I did consider the elemental dragon forms to make some entrance in the story. Maybe in the next chapter since that one's more interesting to say the least. Yeah, I don't understand why there's not a lot of good Breath of Fire crossover fics. With the endings in each of the games, it's likely possible they could get crossed into another game/anime _easily_. But, that's just me. As for your pairing suggestion, that would be Micaiah x Ryu. We'll see, since there's some who suggested Nailah x Ryu.

**Shalemaster:** Yup, he has indeed; one of them, at least.

**Arcreed: **Thanks! As how I'd differentiate between the rest of the laguz (well the dragon laguz), I suppose they would be similarly kindred but not entirely the same. Maybe like…distant cousins, something like that I had an idea of. That had me in a corner when planning this along. Not only that, but when the Black Knight comes out of nowhere. Ah well, let's see how this goes!

Thanks for all the story favorites, reviews and stalkers—I mean watchers! Sorry this took so long. *sobs* By the way, this is the only time we'll see the Warrior form, sadly. I want to bring out the—well erm…the other dragons of Ryu that will actually have impact. Oh yes, and "base" conversations shall come in this chapter as promised, probably with half of the members in this one and the other half in the next chapter.

Also, a very special guest from Breath of Fire III makes a slight cameo entrance in here. Ha-ha!

I don't own Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn or Breath of Fire III. I have the games, that's all.

Enjoy!

-x-x-x-

**Part I:** Silver-Haired Maiden; The Dragon Prince

**Chapter VII:** _The Lost Heir; A Realization_

-x-x-x-

An hour and a half passed over, the three teens that had been ambushed by laguz bandits now alone; two were confused while one seemingly didn't have a soul. It had been thirty minutes after the laguz were defeated, but Ryu remained steadily in that strange form. Sothe and Micaiah didn't know what to call it, but yet, after hearing Pain's words, they had to realize it.

Their friend was a dragon.

While he didn't look like a dragon laguz in Sothe's eyes, the aura emitting from him—that warrior's spirit that everyone appeared to have possessed—strangely alerted him that he was in some way. The three remained quiet as they could, but no doubt questions were piling up on a plate like papers would a desk. "Ryu?" The green-haired thief tried, hoping for one, their friend wouldn't smite him in his new state. Ryu simply turned his way when his name was called, not moving an inch out of fear of startling them, but acknowledged Sothe's incoming question.

**"**_Yes Sothe?_**"** the once blue-haired young man asked, his speech refined but under the draconic influence, it almost seemed to affluent an accent. Something that sounded close to the Tellius Language and Ancient Language; not only that, it sounded as if he were having trouble speaking. However, the words didn't reach Sothe at all. The thief stared at him quizzically, however Micaiah understood them.

"You…can speak the language of the herons?" Sothe wondered, surprised.

"It sounded similar to it, almost like it." Micaiah added, also wondering. Ryu simply stared at them, baffled for words. Deciding it would be best to transform out so he could at least speak properly, the dragon-figure attempted. Ah, another problem occurred; how _would_ he get back to normal? His transformation just came out of nowhere and now he had no idea how to change back. Perfect. Ryu crossed his arms as he pondered silently and being unaware Sothe was starting up his question again.

"Ryu, were you always a dragon laguz and just hid it from us?"

The golden-haired dragon being sighed as much as he could in his new form before looking away from the Daein natives. **"**I… don't know. I could have…been.**"** He struggled out, trying to stray from this 'heron language' in order for Sothe to understand. **"**I had…a strange dream of…dragons being…killed but I didn't think it would have…involved me in any…way.**"** Ryu's large, tan colored bat-like wings shifted in emotion as he had, folding and opening to express his sorrow, slumping if one squinted. His skin had been decorated with hard, reddish orange scales; his shoulders, arms, hands, legs, feet and the sides of his face were scaly. Due to the glow of his dragon form, his pants seemed more brownish than their natural forest green color. **"**…I'm sorry.**"**

"Why are you apologizing?" Sothe asked next.

**"**…I feel…like I l-lied to you.**"**

"No you weren't!" Micaiah defended. "I can see it in your heart, Ryu. You were being honest, you're telling the truth." She rose from her spot, approaching him without fear laced upon her trail. "I know you're confused about this as much as we are. We're not mad at you, either." Sothe also approached them, a small smile on his face as Ryu turned to him, eyes stricken with dumbfounded shock.

"Micaiah's right, Ryu. We're not mad at you for hiding the fact you were a laguz. It caught me off guard, I'll admit. But, you had your reasons."

"You're a good person. I don't care what race you are." Micaiah carefully clasped one of Ryu's scaly hands into hers, emphasizing her point. The dragon warrior managed a deep smile after his look of complete idiocy and stupor. Why hadn't he realized it before that his friends were truthful? But, what about Edward, Leonardo, Nolan and the rest? Would they sit kindly with a laguz in their ranks? **"**What…about…the rest?**"** He asked, lightly recalling his thoughts seconds ago and frowning. **"**Will they…accept…me?**"**

"Of course they will. What kind of question is that?" Sothe answered, crossing his arms. "Ryu, no matter what form you take, you're still you. They'll accept you, I know it." His words naturally rang true and they, coupled with the soft, gentle hands of Micaiah's around his, made the dragon feel comfortable and confident. He wouldn't know what he would do if they were scared of him. Most people were afraid of him anyway—hold on. _People were afraid of me before?_ Ryu questioned himself mentally, pondering. _Well, since I'm obviously a dragon that would make sense. I look terrifying. I'd scare kids away without trying._

"Ryu, stop it." Micaiah reprimanded him. "I may not be able to read your exact thoughts, but you're thinking negatively of yourself, that much I can sense. Please, stop. You're not some monster or horrible creature."

**"**…I…**"**

Both thief and light mage were giving him the hardened stares, except Sothe's were more along the lines of 'just do what she says, it'll make your life easier'. Noticing this, Ryu sighed and willed himself to accept the silver-haired girl's words. **"**Okay…I'll…try.**"** Micaiah's mood lightened a little to his answer, knowing he would earnestly give it his best. She looked around briefly then said, "Yune? Come on out now, it's safe." Responding as quickly as a ninja, the orange canary fluttered in like a hummingbird, chirping happily to be in the presence of her friends. She perched upon Micaiah's shoulder, looking at Sothe to this strange creature that seemingly had the aura or presence of Ryu. She could tell; this person smelled like him, after all.

"You and that bird, I swear…" Sothe said with a face-palm. "It's…a little strange."

"You're just jealous." Micaiah giggled.

"Hmph."

Ryu suppressed a chuckle at the light bantering but focused his gaze upon the orange bird that had been oddly staring at him. "Hm, I wonder how we'll get you to change back, Ryu." The silver-haired mage wondered curiously, trying to come up with ideas. Her words fell on deaf ears as the young man of the topic and Yune were having a staring contest. "Ryu…?"

"What's wrong?"

_I can see it in you. You're definitely Ryu!_ chirped a young, girl's voice in the mind of the blue-haired teen.

Ryu, in-thought, nodded his head as he saw a girl just about four or five feet tall, with long, curly locks of vibrant, burnt orange, deep russet colored eyes, wearing a long, yellow-colored poncho-dress, which covered her entire body sans her knees. Her legs were adorned in white tights fit for a girl and she wore brown boots. Decorated on said poncho-dress was a line of sea-green around the bottom edge. Her hair was overflowing with curls and was attempted to be tamed by tiny, red bows in it. However, said bows didn't bode very well in the waves of the curls. Completed with fair skin, the little girl stared up at the young man foreign to the world.

_You seem familiar. I have a feeling I know you._ Ryu told the girl.

_I know._ She said, giggling lightly. _I am Yune._

Ryu slightly frowned. _Yune? That's the same name as the bird with Micaiah._

_Yes, I'm aware. That is me in my bird form._ Yune smiled. _Well, it's part of me anyway. The rest of me is sealed away in a medallion…_ The way she frowned and looked down signaled Ryu that Yune wasn't exactly excited about being sealed in someplace she didn't like being in. _I've been with Micaiah since she was a little girl. She is interesting and I like her. She's friendly to me and to her friends._

The blue-haired dragon nodded agreeably. _Yes, that's absolutely true. She also cares deeply for us, too._

_Of course!_ Yune paused for a moment as their dream-world was filling in white details and a distant wind captured their hair mystically. _So, Ryu, you're wondering how you can revert to your normal form, correct?_

_Yes… Is that why you called me from the world of the…waking, I'll say, yes?_

_Indeed. I couldn't communicate with you right then and there because of Micaiah. I know she's concerned for you, but I felt you would want some type of privacy._

Ryu chuckled slightly. _Yes, you made a good point. What should I do to revert, Yune?_

_Hm, from what I've studied from you, I'd say your body would react and will its own self to transform, like the laguz of Tellius do. They shift and change at will; I'm sure if you think about willing your body to normal, it'll revert back._ The giggly orange-haired girl said with a wide grin. _Try it, Ryu._

_All right. Here goes nothing, then._

On the outside of their conversation, Ryu's body began to glow again, just like last time. Sothe and Micaiah stared curiously though had to shield their eyes of the flashing light that enveloped their friend. His form began to grow larger than shrinking, the bones of his cracking to shape into the skeleton its master needed, willing himself to become; his new form just happened to have shaped into what appeared to be a…white, beastly dragon instead of the adorable, handsome young blue-haired man. _Oh no, this is…the Radiance Gene!_ Ryu thought in half panic, stopping himself a second. _Wait, "Radiance Gene"? Where did that come from?_

_Ryu, that's bad!_ Yune's voice echoed into his conscience. _Think about being in your human form!_

_Oh right. I'm not sure how this happened, but here goes again._ The dragon teen willed himself again, thinking about his human form before he went out of control—somewhat—and turned into that first form. That electric, spiky blue hair, the blue eyes, the muscular toned form of his human body and the sword in his hand. The thoughts swirled in his mind and slowly, his form was changing yet again, though this time, he was shrinking back to his regular height of around five feet six, somewhere around there, and that noticeable wave of spiked hair shaping wildly. When the light faded, Ryu opened his eyes. He was staring at both Micaiah and Sothe, who were now around his height. He looked down at himself, half surprised to see that he was in his natural self again. "Wonderful, I was able to do it." The blue-haired dragon teen smiled widely, picking up his sword he used earlier. Thankfully the sheath was still in tact.

"It's good to see you back to your normal self, Ryu." Micaiah said warmly.

"Yeah." Sothe stared at him again, frowning. "We'll have to get you a new shirt…"

Ryu chuckled at this, knowing all too well himself. "Yeah, I agree on that. Perhaps after we get out of here—" He stopped chatting and Micaiah closed her eyes. Something in the distance, sounded so beautiful, so serene and so downright peaceful. What could be making that wonderful sound? "Wait…I hear something."

Sothe looked around, wondering and clueless. "I don't hear anything."

"I hear it as well. I wonder what that is?" Ryu blinked. Sothe shook his head.

"…I still can't hear anything. Are you two sure?"

"…Yes." Micaiah nodded her head. "It sounds like someone's singing." She turned her body down an open corridor through the run-down ruins. "And it's coming from this way!" She pointed ahead and raced off in said direction, Yune flying ahead of her. Both of her 'bodyguards' took off after her.

"Micaiah, wait!" both Sothe and Ryu shouted to her.

After following, or rather chasing in Sothe's and Ryu's case, the light mage down the dark, stony corridor of the ruins, all three stop at an opening of the ruins, a little light from outside shining through the corrupted, laughable excuse for a roof. However, sitting upon a broken pile of treasure and wood, was a pale-skinned man who looked just about in his mid-twenties. He was dressed in elegant, pearly white and cream robes that instantly wrote him off as a nobleman. His large, similarly colored plume of wings sat behind him, folded carefully like a soft blanket. His slender green irises were focusing on the orange canary that perched herself upon his left shoulder. He simply continued humming his angelic song, each note vibrated with beauty as his voice dropped to an alto. Lying down beside him on each side of him were two wolves; one had beautiful, thick silvery-white fur that covered over it. It also had a velvet purple cloth as well as a golden trim abound it draped around its head, covering the left eye in particular. The single visible eye from the wolf appeared a pristine light olive color. The second wolf was shades of brown, mostly dark brown across the bulk. Its eyes were narrow and violet shades, nearly as dark as its fur, making it blend in.

Their tails wagged slowly in the melody of the winged man's voice, but suddenly noticed they were being watched. Their heads inclined upwards simultaneously as their noses picked up three different scents. A beorc's, another laguz's of sorts and a half-breed's.

"You! Hello! Who are you?" Micaiah called over to them. The winged man stopped singing, bringing his attention to the newcomers. Sensing no malice, the two wolf laguz shifted into their human forms. Ryu wondered how they did it with such ease but came to a realization that they had much more experience than he did. Seeing no harm in approaching them, the three from both sides quietly headed towards one another, stopping a couple feet away to give each other space.

"I am Rafiel." The white-winged male calmly stated. "A voice guided me here, was it yours?"

Micaiah shook her head. "No, but I heard a voice that guided me and my companions here as well. Someone or something may want us both here."

Taking notice of the situation and of the blond-haired man's appearance, Sothe popped in his question. "You're laguz, aren't you? One of the heron clan and two of the beast tribe, right?"

Rafiel nodded softly. "You are correct, beorc youth."

"I've noticed your white wings. You're of the royal herons. Are you related to Prince Reyson by chance?" The green-haired thief continued. The look on Rafiel's face was not any further from sudden surprise. Micaiah and Ryu, not knowing where this was going, exchanged looks with one another. What was Sothe going on about?

"Reyson? You know of my younger brother?" Rafiel asked, gasping.

"You could say that. We had served in the same company three years ago for some time."

"…What?" Rafiel paused, trying to find his words, his eyes widening even further. "Are you suggesting my brother is still alive?"

Sothe nodded. "Yes. He is still alive. And as far as I know, your father the king and the princess Leanne are as well." He confirmed and went on. There was no mistake in Rafiel's expression now; he was not only still shocked but now in deep realization of Sothe's words. Could it be true? Was this beorc the bringer of such good news to him? "Unless something's happened, all three of them live in the royal palace of Gallia, country of the beast tribe."

"U-Unbelievable!" The heron noble exclaimed. "My father and my sweet Leanne… They are all still with me! Oh, dear goddess!" He closed his eyes and allowed his silent tears he kept in for so long to roll down his soft face. "They're still alive. I'm not alone, no longer alone… Ah…"

One of the wolf laguz in their human form, the white in particular, approached him, putting a hand on his delicate shoulder. She was an obvious female, dressed elegantly in her own way. She wore a chain of linked necklaces around her neck, and wore a black, strapless top that exposed a little of her chest's mid-drift. Her hair was a dark lavender color, curling in a wavy fashion down to her shoulders and passed. Her complexion was tan, as if she had been purposefully sitting in the desert, getting a suntan. Her arms and legs were decorated in intricate tribal designs, true to her heritage as a laguz. Across her left shoulder was a patterned sash of sorts, and a satin fabric of cloth covered over her left arm, reaching towards her elbow. Buckled around her waist was a golden buckle, holding two blue and navy blue decorated pads together, both styled distinctly in a bizarre pattern. A bronze, pale-yellow cloth deescalated from the center, and velvet purple drawled out like a woven dress skirt behind her. Just underneath the velvet skirt was her beautifully furry tail of silver-white, which echoed her small, wolfish ears that sat atop her head. Her feet were in black long sandals, both with an open diamond design to expose her skin as it buttoned downward.

The second wolf laguz, an obvious male, was shirtless, all three teens noticed. Down his arms were the same tribal markings as the female's, and his skin complexion nearly mirrored hers. His straight locks of dark brown ceased around his shoulders, his bangs somewhat falling into his face. His violet-palette eyes tinted with a hint of auburn in them against the minimal light provided by the cracks in the walls and ceiling. Much like his hair, he had two wolf ears upon his head, the same shade as aforesaid locks. It was almost hard to distinguish them apart from his actual hair. Around his neck he wore a navy blue band that symbolized a collar if one squinted. A necklace in a thin, black strand wrapped around his neck as well, although it fell towards his collarbone. It had five tooth bones strewn through the string. His pants looked similar to those who would wear turbans in a desert—obvious as they were in one. They were beige colored, and an auburn colored half-skirt of sorts strewn around his backside, held together with a bizarre belt around his waist. From the center down was a white and pale satin fabric woven together with an intricate pattern before his legs in the front. From the bottom of his calves and up towards the firm legs were black woven cloths wrapped around neatly, and upon his feet were sandals, much like his fellow wolf laguz.

However, unlike hers, his only had the thumb toe strapped down while the rest hung free above the sandal's weight. His furry, fluffy tail of dark brown swayed behind him and his stance indicated he wasn't one for conversation.

"Rafiel…" The lavender haired wolf softly called his name.

"…" The brunet wolf silently 'said'.

"Hello and you are…?" Micaiah noticed them.

"I am Nailah, Queen of Hatari, and this is Volug, my loyal servant. Our kingdom lies far east of here." The female wolf laguz answered and introduced. Sothe, Micaiah and Ryu stared at her incredulously.

"…There's another country on the other side of the desert?"

Nailah nodded keeping a serious face in check. "As I've said. We have just traveled from there. Until we met Rafiel, we didn't know there were countries on this side of the desert either. After all, no one had ever crossed the Desert of Death and lived to tell of it. Without Rafiel's guidance, we would never have survived the crossing."

"My people, the heron clan of Serenes, were blamed for the murder of Begnion's empress. Begnion mobs rose up in rage and massacred them." Rafiel began as his tears from earlier still lingered. Ryu frowned at this information as did the other two, but they appeared to have known this already. A genocide of a whole clan? Why did this seem so eerily familiar? "I had thought the whole of my clan, my entire race, had been wiped out. I wandered the desert in despair." He opened his once shut eyes, smiling lightly. "If not for the queen, I would have died. In Hatari, I vowed to dedicate my life to her. And yet every night for these past three years, a voice has called out to me. Day by day, it has grown stronger…Until the voice led me to you all. Your news brings such joy to my heart!"

"Father…Reyson…Leanne… My beloved family… My thanks to thee, O goddess… Ah…"

"Rafiel…You talk too much…" Nailah said, sighing. She eyed the three teens next. "You, beorc…What's the best route to Gallia?"

Ryu blinked. Was she serious? Again, Sothe graced her with an incredulous expression. "For a group of laguz, traveling through the countryside of Daein is pure suicide." He said. "It might be longer, but we can take you as far as Crimea."

"We would be grateful. By all means, let's travel together." The Wolf Queen smiled lightly. "But why go to Crimea? Why not travel directly to Gallia?"

"Entering Gallia by yourselves would be nearly impossible. The man you need to get you into Gallia actually resides in Crimea." Sothe explained, and his tone of voice switched to that of one who was proud of a trophy he earned. "That man, Ike, is in contact with King Caineghis and his advisors. There's no doubt in my mind that he's the man you need." Ryu noted how much Sothe's tone appraised to utmost respect of this person's name. Ike, was it? However, he saw the distrust and scorn in Micaiah's face the moment the name was brought up. Apparently, she wasn't as fond of this Ike like Sothe was.

"Right. Lord Ike, "hero" of the Crimean Liberation, leader of the Greil Mercenaries, and the father of Sothe's children…" She mumbled and sighed. Ryu kept back an unintended laugh at her rather random point. Sothe didn't seem to hear what she said but it was pretty clear she didn't like Ike at all. But that was another thing; why was Micaiah like that? Was Ike really such a bad person to be spoken of like so? What had he done to earn such scorn from the light mage? Regardless, the group all agreed to travel together and soon backtracked out of the ruins, careful to avoid any other confrontation with any possible would-be enemies that may be lurking in the shadows. The blue-haired swordsman sighed. Today was rather eventful so far.

-x-x-x-

**Conversation: "**_Trusting Companion_**" (****_Edward)_****_**_**

-x-x-x-

Strolling through the campsite, the brunet myrmidon of the Dawn Brigade walked along, noticing his friends preparing for lunch. Ever since yesterday, Sothe, Micaiah and Ryu were partially silent for what had transpired in the ruins. When they came out, Ryu was decorated in ungodly scars and blood that it nearly made Laura faint. Thankfully he cleaned up and was provided another set of clothes by Muston and Daniel to replace his tattered ones. Now, Ryu was adorned in a simple dark blue tunic top, the creases of the shirt's fold stuck upward from its center button. Underneath was a padded white shirt. The trimming of the tunic top was aligned in simple silver, trailing down the center of the fabric. The pants he wore were the same material as Sothe's, though now only the same shade as Volug's own. His boots matched aforesaid wolf laguz's hair, being the same as Edward's, styled similarly. He kept his iron-plated gloves however, as they received no damage, if not counting the light dents on the frame. A simple cream-white long scarf draped around his neck and shoulders to give him a unique taste than a typical cape. Strapped to his backside was a dark brown sheath and his sword lied in it.

Lastly, Ryu's ocean colored hair remained unchanged, though now it lacked the blood it had carried from yesterday. It seemed to sparkle as much as Micaiah's hair when the sunlight hit it. Seeing as he was alone, Edward walked up to his sparring partner, trying to offer a smile. "Uh, hey Ryu." The blue-haired teen looked up from cutting meat slices and folding warm-temperature bread.

"Hello Edward." Ryu greeted him with a smile as well.

"What are you making there?"

"Lunch."

"I noticed." Edward chuckled. "But what's on the menu?"

"I thought it would be simple to make sandwiches. It's too hot in the desert to make something with fire, at least at this time of the day."

"Hm, sandwiches huh? Sounds good."

"Yeah, and it's time consuming."

"Right. Can I help?"

"Sure thing, Edward."

The brunet grinned, taking a seat next to Ryu, watching him resume cutting the meat to make near perfect slices for each sandwich. He removed his gloves, noticed the small bowl of water near Ryu and cleaned his hands in the cool water. After drying his hands with a cloth that was conveniently provided for him, Edward set to cut into the loaf of bread to make equal slices for the sandwiches. They stayed in silence for awhile, moving onto to the next steps with cutting cheese slices and chopping lettuce and tomatoes. The myrmidon finally broke the stagnant silence. "Say Ryu…Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Edward."

"Okay. What happened yesterday? I know you were all attacked by laguz bandits that much you, Micaiah and Sothe pointed out. But… something tells me something else happened."

Ryu paused—no, he froze on the spot. His eyes also froze on the ground, daring himself to breathe.

Edward noticed he must have hit a nail with Ryu on that topic and prodded further. "Ryu, if you know, please tell me. I'm your friend. No matter what."

"…"

Again, the stagnant silence loomed over the two swordsmen once more. Ryu pondered deeply about this; knowing Edward for as long as he had, the brunet was determined when on a mission. Nothing would sway him until he knew every detail. He may be carefree and casual, but Edward wasn't one to underestimate once something crosses his mind. Why was Ryu trembling with fear? The myrmidon was his friend, of course! He should outright tell him what happened, the full truth. But, why was he feeling fearful? Why was it feeling like a secret he needed to keep to himself? No, he should be more trustworthy of his new friends. But, would he scorn him? Would he deny him because of what he had become? Noticing Ryu was contemplating over his thoughts, Edward put down his cutting knife, the tomatoes he was slicing and put a firm hand on his friend's shoulder.

"If you don't want to tell me right now, then you don't have to, Ryu. I mean, I'm worried about you."

"Edward…"

"Yes?" His eyes glinting with hope.

"…What would you do if I said I was a laguz?"

"Huh?"

Ryu's blue eyes glanced up from their frozen stupor, his head turned to face him solemnly. "What would you do and say if I told you I was a laguz?"

The brunet suddenly blinked. "What would I do? I'd be happy, no duh." He answered. "In fact, it'd be really cool to see you transform into something else and then be even more powerful. In Daein, as kids, we're taught to hate and scorn the laguz, call them sub-humans and persecute them should they cross our path. But, when I met Micaiah, she made me think differently about them, and I want to learn everything about them. They must be amazing as I've heard about them." His dark brown orbs of eyes locked firmly on Ryu after his response. "Ryu, are you indicating _you're_ a laguz?"

Not feeling the one to lie due to guilt clinging to his back like a barnacle on a pier, Ryu nodded slowly. "Yes. To be precise, I am of a dragon laguz. And, I used that power to protect Micaiah and Sothe yesterday in the ruins."

"…Wow!" Edward chuckled earnestly, catching Ryu by surprise.

"…What's so funny, Edward?"

"I mean, I knew your name meant 'dragon', but…I didn't think anything of it. I've…never seen a dragon laguz, no less any laguz before!" The brunet continued on with his rambling. "Nothing's funny, don't worry. I'm just excited. Here I've been taught laguz fight with their claws and teeth, talons and beaks, and their breath attacks that dragons have, but you're pretty much the first laguz I've ever met that can transform _and_ use a beorc weapon!"

"Oh. Is it really that rare…?"

"Yeah! In fact, it's unheard of, just like you and Micaiah's healing power and then your magic, too. Wait. Laguz never had magical power either. They only shape-shift into their beast forms, and I read that herons are the only laguz that have any form of magical quality to them, hinted in their songs they sing." Edward pointed out.

"Oh." Ryu quietly mumbled, feeling out of place.

"But, that makes you even better, Ryu. You can use swords, transform, use magic AND heal! You're like a mage, swordsman, laguz and healer all in one! It's like a complete package!" Edward grinned wide, proud to call the blue-haired sword user among one of his friends. "I can't believe I'm friends with such an extraordinary friend. Not only are you nice and give advice, you're like your own person."

Listening to Edward's words kindled a new fire in Ryu. He smiled genuinely, feeling that proud sensation overwhelm him. The brunet understood him, and accepted him for who he was. Micaiah and Sothe were right—there was no need to worry about them. "Edward…Thank you…"

"Ryu, there's no need! If you were afraid I'd not accept you because you're you, then worry no more. Even if you were some monster, I wouldn't care. You're still my friend and nothing will change that!" The youthful myrmidon picked up his knife and the tomatoes again, resuming chopping as before. "Let's get these sandwiches done. I'm getting hungry!"

"R-Right." Ryu agreed, gratefully to get a weight off his chest.

"Hey Ryu?"

"Yes Edward?"

"Can you transform for me sometime later?"

Sparing a chuckle, Ryu nodded. "I suppose I could for you, Ed."

"Hah! Thanks, Ryu! You're the best!"

-x-x-x-

**Conversation: ****_"_**_Friend of their word__**"**_** (****_Leonardo) **_**

-x-x-x-

After lunch was served an hour later, Leonardo and Ryu volunteered to clean up the campsite so they could move onto their next location in a few minutes. As the others were packing away their belongings in the caravan and conversing with one another, the blond-haired archer grabbed Ryu in a conversation.

"I heard from Edward," Leonardo began.

"…Heard from him? What did you hear?" Ryu asked, having some clue of where this was headed.

"He told me at lunch that you were a dragon laguz." Ah, how had he known this would come up? Ryu looked at Leonardo, trying to afford a smile. Having a feeling Leonardo wouldn't scorn him either, the blue-haired swordsman kept up. "…What do you think?"

"Well, to be honest, I thought he was telling some joke or lying to me. I wanted to be sure for myself."

"I see."

"…So are you really a laguz, Ryu?"

"Yes."

"Ah." Leonardo closed his eyes momentarily. "…Okay, now I know Edward wasn't lying to me. But why have we not seen it? Other than Sothe and Micaiah?"

"I…can't be sure why. To be honest, I reacted to protect them." Ryu began, "Besides, would you have believed me if I said something about it before? We are in Daein. I know there's discrimination and prejudice against the laguz here."

"That is unfortunately the truth. Majority of Daein are prejudice against the laguz and for no reason other than they fear them." Leonardo sighed a little. "But not everyone in Daein is like that. Edward, Sothe, Micaiah, Nolan and I aren't like that."

"I know. That's what makes you all so comfortable to be around, Leo."

The blond archer flushed in embarrassment. "Really?" Receiving an honest nod from the swordsman, Leonardo smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Ryu. I'm sorry if I pried into your privacy."

"It's all right. It was bound to come up some time or another." Ryu replied truthfully. "I was scared at first that you all would be afraid of me and shun me away. I shouldn't have doubted your friendship. I know our friendship really just started. We've been together for a good few weeks, almost a good month. But, I was still afraid of how I'd be treated after learning of what I was." Leonardo placed a reassuring hand on Ryu's shoulder much like Edward had done earlier.

"Ryu, we're your friends. I'm your friend. It doesn't matter what you are, you're still my friend to me. There wouldn't be anything else in this world that could tell me otherwise."

"…That's almost what Edward said to me."

"Really? Well, we did grow up with one another, almost. While Edward is a little reckless, we tend to rub off one another. But he's telling the truth and so am I. I'm a man of my word. You will not be betrayed because of what you are, so don't worry, Ryu." The blue-haired dragon teen smiled warmly, feeling appreciated and accepted yet again. At least Leonardo and Edward were also on his side now…well, if there was any side to choose between. Invisibly, there was; the side of rejection and the side of acceptance.

"Thank you for understanding, Leonardo."

"Of course, Ryu. That's what friends are for."

-x-x-x-

**Conversation:****_ "_**_Laguz Transformation__**" (Nailah, Volug and Rafiel) *****_

-x-x-x-

The next few days flew by as the Dawn Brigade and company was still traveling amidst the Desert of Death. The new night rolled over after losing luck of not locating the missing prince of Daein and running in with another round of bandits, this time beorc bandits. They were easily dealt with and a victory was successfully claimed. After preparing dinner, Ryu took time to walk off, though not too far, to get some fresh air as his claim to part from the campfire.

"So much has happened already. It's been a good month, going on the second pretty soon. I hope we find that prince soon, too." Ryu took the strapped sheath from his back, readjusting it to his right hip. Once that was done, he drew his blade, watching as the moonlight's rays reflected off the edge. "Hm, Edward was right. It _is_ easier to draw the sword this way. And it's much more comfortable, too." The blue-haired swordsman slid his sword back into its scabbard and took a deep breath. "Those dreams haven't been coming back for some reason. Perhaps…it has to do with my transformation. I wonder what they were truly trying to tell me."

"Ryu? What are you doing out here all alone?"

Aforesaid teen spun around quietly to see the caller of his name, Rafiel, approaching him with the wolf queen Nailah and her manservant Volug in tow. He tilted his head curiously at the laguz company that presented themselves. "I was just thinking about things that's all. More importantly, the thought of how to transform into my laguz form."

"Oh?" Nailah inquired next. "You're of the laguz as well?"

"Yes. You couldn't tell?"

"Not quite. You do have an air about you that tells me you are, but it's different."

Ryu slightly frowned. "I see."

"You're of the dragon tribe laguz, are you not?" Rafiel asked.

"I am. I've been hit with amnesia however, and I've forgotten how to shift forms if that makes sense." Ryu answered, not completely lying to the heron noble. After all, it was the truth. How was he supposed to know he was capable of shape-shifting from the whole get-go? "Sounds embarrassing but…"

"No, it's not." Nailah began, "We'll get you back on track. It's uncommon for laguz to forge how to shift, but it's not unheard of either. Would you like training, Ryu?" The blue-haired swordsman blinked, making sure he heard this correctly. The Wolf Queen of Hatari was volunteering to help him shift forms?

"I appreciate your offer, but are you sure? You're of nobility, I wish not to—"

"No, I insist." The lavender-haired laguz reassured.

"I shall assist you as well." Rafiel also pitched in. "We laguz may shift into different creatures, but the process is very similar, if not the same."

"..." Volug 'said'.

"I thank you Queen Nailah and Prince Rafiel for your offer to assist me. I appreciate it, truly." Ryu nodded in a light bow to them. His blue eyes found the brownish auburn ones of the brown wolf laguz beside his queen and wondered. "Volug? Would you also like to help me, too? You look quite lonely there." The quiet brunet lupine curiously eyed Ryu and his offer, nodding his head, a light smile upon his face.

"_Of course. If you can pull your weight then we won't have any problems. Just don't slack off, little dragon._" Volug said in the ancient language. For reasons only he hadn't know, Ryu actually understood that.

"Ah okay then…I'll try not to and I'll definitely pull my own weight. Just give me a push, that's all."

Rafiel smiled gently. "It seems you won't need to learn how to understand the Ancient Language, that's a small step forward. Now then Ryu, for this lesson, you must understand your form change. You must acknowledge its presence and allow it to coalesce with you."

"Allow my laguz form to coalesce with me?"

"Yes. Naturally, the beast within us that makes us laguz comes out casually as soon as we're born, we simply think about it to change, but for you, you need to understand its presence in order to remember how to shift." Nailah clarified. "Can you feel your inner beast?"

Ryu paused momentarily, wondering how he would respond to the dragon that resided in him. He could feel it, definitely. It was burning the tips of his fingers in a figurative way. Not only that, but it didn't feel alone. There was another presence lurking deep into his soul, but it was secluded, closed off and he couldn't reach it. But there were those he could feel right there, ready to burst free. The only problem was how to release them one at a time, to become comfortable with their strange presence. It was strange, though. At first, there was one, but as the days went on in their travels, he could feel _more_ of them inching up from nowhere. The one he became to protect Micaiah and Sothe mysteriously vanished, in lack of better words. How did that happen?

Deciding to put that behind him, he turned to his three tutors and nodded. "I can feel them." He stated.

"Good." Nailah complemented with Rafiel raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Them? What did he mean? "Now, draw upon that feeling and allow it to take you over. The first time it hurts, but the more you shift, the easier it becomes and the more comfortable it becomes."

"Right…" Ryu took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He concentrated on the dragon burning within his body, trying to search for its power and its existence to merge with him while he shifted. It didn't take as long as he thought; his eyes turned a pure gold tint, and his entire body sparked with energy he recognized. Ryu shut his eyes, groaning as he hypocritically began fighting off the urge. Noticing his cringing form, Nailah frowned. "No." She half barked at Ryu. "Don't fight it. Allow it to consume you and use its power as your own. You are in control."

_What? That…doesn't make…sense. Does it?_ The blue-haired teen wondered, trying to soak in the queen's words. Steadily, he allowed the urge to take full force like that time in the ruins. That instinct, that sudden jump in power he remembered bits and pieces of it. _I must control it this time. Maintain it. Allow it to consume me and then use its power as mine._ Ryu told himself, not recognizing his entire form was shifting swiftly. The bones snapped and reshaped into the form it was commanded to take, the willing of the teenager swordsman. In Ryu's place mere seconds from those thoughts stood a tall dragon with a golden, scaly reptilian form. Its horns were long and auburn in color and its eyes were a serene light blue with a golden tint to them. Claws as strong as a hawk's talons were in place of human hands, strong, tough hide and legs it stood upon. A powerful, long tail grazed the sand behind it. Mighty wings the length of two seven foot beorcs together outstretched widely and contracted into a fold. A visible red mark, that same misaligned "t" shaped 'scar' was just above his forehead though; nobody could miss it.

When the dragon snapped to, realizing what was going on, he slightly gasped. To say he was large was a slight misconception. He towered over his fellow laguz, possibly standing over twenty feet tall. He couldn't tell because he was standing on his hind legs, glancing down at his companions.

_Hey…It worked._ Ryu thought, unable to actually project his voice to the others but he had a feeling they knew what he meant.

"Ryu, you're marvelous." Rafiel praised. "I've never seen a gold dragon before…"

"Neither have I." Nailah commented after. "Now that you have shifted into your form, now it's time to shift back to normal." A low rumbling of a growl that resembled something of a groan escaped the pillar of gold reptile before her and the wolf queen crossed her arms. "Now, now, there's no need to groan and complain. Now that you've established your form, you must think about your human form and will your body to shift into it stably."

_This whole transforming thing will tire me out, but I have to admit, it's worth it._ The former swordsman thought again. Sponging in Nailah's words again, Ryu relaxed his body and kept his thoughts on his human form's appearance. Just like before, his body shifted, his bones crunching back to the five foot six young man it recognized. It was so sudden that Ryu opened his eyes, he found himself staring at Nailah who slightly towered him with her height. He felt his azure hair in front of him, noticing his bangs were getting long and out of control. Before he uttered a word, he swayed forward only to be caught by the queen herself.

"Whoa."

"Take it easy, Ryu. The first time is usually exhausting and taxing on the body." Rafiel reminded him.

"I understand." He took his surroundings in and noticed Nailah had still held him by his shoulders. The human dragon blinked, noticing how close in proximity he was to the royal lupine. He quickly straightened himself up and was grateful his long bangs sheltered the growing cherry of his cheeks. "Sorry Queen Nailah for falling on you." Ryu bowed lightly.

"Hm, it's no trouble. Like Rafiel said, the first time transforming takes a toll on the body. However, the more you use it, the easier it becomes."

"Thank you for helping me. If I follow your instructions, I believe I'll get the hang of it by myself."

"That's good to hear. But you'll still need someone to keep an eye on you." The lavender-haired laguz turned to her manservant, who caught her glance. "Volug, watch over Ryu when he transforms. Assist him if he struggles." Volug simply bowed and took on his wolf form easily as the wind blew over.

"But Queen Nailah…"

"You may also take Volug with you on your travels to finding this prince. He'll stay shifted into his laguz form. It won't seem so strange to have a dog with you, right?"

"Uh, well, no. But, how can you call Volug a 'dog'?"

"He may or may not be housebroken but he can put up a fight with any of those beorc. He'll prove to be a valuable asset I'm sure." Such a blunt woman. Ryu scratched his head, exchanging glances with the brown wolf now at his side. "Volug, I also want you to guard Ryu and his friends as well." The manservant now-lupine just barked in agreement. "Now that's taken care of, Ryu, you will do just fine."

"I shall pray for your success." Rafiel added with a genuine smile.

"Thank you both. Hey Volug, is Queen Nailah always like this…?" Ryu asked the wolf who grunted in response. The swordsman took this answer as a simple 'yes'; he sighed lowly but decided not to mention anything. Besides, having another laguz with them might help Ryu overcome his nerves. Maybe he wouldn't have to transform so much if Volug was around.

-x-x-x-

**Conversation: ****_"_**_Kinship that ties us together__**" (Kurth) *****_

-x-x-x-

"Ryu, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Kurth called to the swordsman as he and Edward finished their sparring match the next day. They still didn't have any luck in locating the elusive prince, but Micaiah kept them on their toes on hope alone. Somehow, she felt they had been getting closer. Ryu nodded to the pilgrim that traveled with them for this long. "Sure thing, Kurth." The blue-haired swordsman waved to Edward as he put their practice swords away in the caravan. After being led a ways from the campsite, Kurth turned to Ryu, a small smile settled on his face.

"What can I do for you, Kurth?" Ryu asked.

The young man with short, dark hair and blood red eyes sighed a little, but knew this had to come. "May I ask in advance that this stays between us? This may become very personal."

"Of course. I won't tell anyone of our conversation."

"Thank-you. Now then, Ryu, you know me as Kurth, but my full name is Kurthnaga. I am the prince of Goldoa, of the dragon tribe." He pulled down his cloak's hood, revealing his extremely dark, and forest green hair, nearly a shade lighter than black, his crimson eyes, and his tanned complexion. His attire was covered by the cloak but Ryu knew better. But, they had been standing in the presence of another noble? Before he went knighthood and bowed, Kurth stopped Ryu when he realized it a second sooner. "Please, don't bow to me Ryu. I don't want to attract attention."

"…All right." Ryu sounded a little dejected, "But, you're out here for a reason, am I right? A prince shouldn't be out here, ironically enough."

"Yes. I was looking for my sister, Almedha. She was the late King Ashnard's concubine, if you will. The orphan prince is my nephew and I am worried for him and her. I left my home to find them."

"I see. That's very honorable and kind of you, Kurth. I'm sure your sister will appreciate your presence."

"Indeed. It has been a long time since I've seen her. But, the reason I called you over here is because—"

"I'm a dragon laguz, correct?"

"Yes. You bear the same mark as my clansmen, and your transformation earlier confirmed it. It caught me by surprise that you could use beorc weapons and magic. Normally, such is difficult for us laguz to master, but you've done the impossible."

Ryu smiled lightly, though unable to determine if Kurth's words were of praise or not. He hoped it was the former. "I wonder if…I belong to Goldoa then. I can't exactly remember though…" He pondered hopefully. "Where is Goldoa, Kurth?"

"It is southwest of here and the palace and village itself sits upon a mountaintop to prevent intruders from entering. The only way up is to scale the mountain or fly in."

"…That's inviting." Ryu frowned.

"About your birthright to Goldoa, it is a possibility. However, your dragon form is on a completely different scale in comparison to the tribe's."

Now this was interesting. How did he differ? "How so?"

"Your form is of a gold dragon. The ones existing in Goldoa are Red, White and Black dragons, with Black dragons being of nobility. Your…shade is new, to say the least. Perhaps it is a rare gift from the goddess that you were born with." Ryu pondered again though remained silent at the 'goddess' word. Man, something about that word made his skin crawl and his spine shudder. Doesn't he know a goddess from somewhere? He just had to! There was no way such a word would cause anyone to flinch and shudder just out of nowhere like that. Perhaps he met this goddess at some point in his life, and the amnesia he's suffering from is blocking out the memory. That seems to be the only plausible case. What else could it be?

"Maybe Kurth…" Ryu finally said. "Is…this all you wanted to impart me with? It's good to know about you though, the truth."

"No, there is one more thing." The Black Dragon Prince-in-disguise began. "Once I meet my sister, I will go to my home country, to Goldoa. My cover up story to my retainer, Gareth, was I wanted to travel around a little. I should be back in Goldoa within the next two months, so hopefully I will get the chance to see my sister and nephew before my time is up. I want you to stay here and protect my sister and my nephew. I know this sounds like a brazen request from nowhere, but you and I share a kinship, and I could not trust just anyone other than Micaiah with this."

"I see. Does Micaiah know this?"

"…No. I wish for her to not get too deeply involved, but I know she will stand up for my nephew's cause to regain Daein back from the Empire. She truly loves her country."

"Indeed she does." Ryu smiled and Kurth returning it. "Then, I, Ryu will become the shield for your sister, Lady Almedha and her son, your nephew. Don't worry; it's not outrageous of a request. I learned about where I came from, Goldoa it seems, and that I have somewhere I belong. It may not come out now, but I feel I could try and see it for myself sometime."

"Goldoa is a wonderful nation, and it is neutral. Unfortunately, though. My father forbids trespassers that happen upon our territory."

"Really? That doesn't sound very pleasant, but I'm sure your father, the King of Goldoa I presume, knows what he's doing."

"I do hope so. It's been that way for many passing centuries." Kurth said as he pulled his cloak's hood over his head again to shelter it from the blowing sand going about its way in the wind. "That's all I wanted to tell you, Ryu. Thank you for understanding."

The swordsman nodded his head, still with that smile. "You're welcome, Kurth. Thank you for imparting the knowledge with me. I feel one step closer to remembering about myself."

"Of course, Ryu. If you would like to talk about Goldoa or anything of the sort, you're more than welcome to come to me. Well, let's get back to the others now so they don't leave us behind."

"Right, after you, my prince."

"Ha-ha, no need for formalities."

"I was teasing." Ryu added, following behind Kurth as they headed back to the camp, which was now being set up. However, the one thing that he couldn't get out of his mind now was Goldoa and the phrase "Dragon Prince". Why would such a phrase tack so much of his attention all of a sudden? _Why do I get the feeling there is more to this…amnesia than I'm letting myself on? I wish I could remember everything._

-x-x-x-

The group, back on the road in the desert, was setting out to finally locate Ashnard's son once and for all. Coupled with the harsh, intense, sweltering heat of the sun's rays baking them like cakes in ovens, their progress wasn't less than satisfactory. They were only on the desert's edge and yet it was already taxing on them. They had left the area in which they met Queen Nailah and Prince Rafiel's small company, the royal laguz having followed the Dawn Brigade. With them, they had the ever-so-helpful Volug manservant, who had been tailing behind Ryu like a lost puppy every second. He surely was keeping to his word and orders. "We still have something we must do." Micaiah told Sothe as they had stopped for a break under a convenient, natural alcove arch of rock, which provided enough shade for everyone.

"It'd be great if we found Ashnard's son soon. I'm burning up out here." Sothe grimaced.

"I'm not sure what it is, but I see a lot of images, stacked on top of each other. It's hard to see what they all are." Micaiah said, closing her eyes as her mind projected images only she could see. "There's danger, battles, and terrible sadness, but also…hope. Whatever our destiny is, I know we'll find it in the desert. Let's go."

Sothe nodded. "I understand, Micaiah. I'll tell everyone to make ready." And with that, the green haired thief headed off to the merry band of theirs, first getting a hold of Nolan. Walking ahead to provide company to the silver-haired mage was none other than Ryu, whom kept his right hand steadily upon the hilt of his sword. Tailing right behind him was his "guardian dog" Volug, who remained dutifully in his laguz form. Ryu secretly envied his ability to do so but knew he'd be able to pull that off sometime later when he got the hang of his transformation. So far, he was able to hold it for a good two hours, fly—or rather, glide—and attack normally. Granted, he was a little slower in his transformed state for now, but he'd get just as agile as his human form soon enough.

"Micaiah? Are we heading back into the desert?" Ryu asked her.

"Yes, Ryu. I predicted many battles ahead." The light mage replied. "I know you're getting used to it but…"

"If you want me to use my dragon abilities for these upcoming fights Micaiah, I'll be more than happy to help you with that—"

"But—"

"—regardless if laguz are mistreated in Daein and from what I've seen, Begnion, too. It's okay. I can handle it. As long as I draw breath, as long as I'm able to change forms, and as long as I hold this sword, I will fight for the Dawn Brigade. Whatever comes our way, we'll win."

"You're right, Ryu. We'll overcome all obstacles, and with Sothe, you and everyone by my side, I know it's possible."

"Yeah."

"…Hm, Ryu, pardon me, but what happened to your hair? It seems…shorter." The blue-haired swordsman blinked, perplexed for a moment before realizing exactly what she meant. Chuckling, he felt where a few spikes of his hair had been and rubbed it embarrassingly.

"Well, my last sparring session with Edward was with our actual swords. Let's just say he gave me an unintentional haircut." True enough the couple of hair spikes upon his head were cut off, being as flat as a tree stump. Some of his hair spikes remained, but they now swayed a little backwards, giving him a rather younger appearance. "Don't worry about it though. It'll grow back." Ryu brushed his bangs away with his hand, hoping that they would still block out his dragon mark but remain out of his eyes' way. Fortunately the former happened, but the latter did not. Seeing his futile attempt at winning a round with his hair, Micaiah giggled.

"I'm a great swordsman, but I get beat by strands of hair…" Ryu joked, giving the silver-haired girl a reason to continue her bout of chortles.

"Ryu… You're truly funny."

"All right, everyone's ready Micaiah—what's so funny?" Sothe returned but sported a questionable gaze at both the mage and dragon boy.

"Nothing in particular." She replied, ending her giggling right there though it was obvious she could spring back into a fit of them anytime soon with her light grin. "Thank you for telling everyone, Sothe."

"It's no trouble, but seriously, what was so funny?" He stole a glance at Ryu who grinned rather mischievously at the look he was receiving from his thieving companion. Feeling guilty as charged by the suspicious glare, Ryu sighed and relented. "She was laughing at my hair problems."

"Oh right. Edward delivered a clean cut to that wild mop of yours." Sothe added with a smirk.

"…Right he did."

"So, back to the first topic, which way do we go from here? We've already been north, so that pretty much leaves east and south. Which way?" The green haired rogue asked his closest friend, watching as she pondered on his question. That is, until they were interrupted by the brown wolf beside Ryu. Volug growled suddenly his ears twitched in irritation as if he heard something—which is exactly what he did.

"What is it, Volug?" Micaiah asked, wondering why the wolf was snarling. Trying to understand growls of a beast wasn't easy; however, they had a translator standing by them, thankfully. The ocean-haired swordsman readily listened to Volug's grunting tone, adjusting them in his mind to formulate words.

"Volug says he can sense beorc in the south, _a lot_ of beorc." Ryu translated, putting a worried emphasis on 'a lot'.

"There must be something out there, then." The light mage deduced seriously.

Sothe nodded in understanding. "That settles it then. We'll head south." The four hurry to gather the others and garnered the others in what they hoped was the prince gathering forces in the desert, and hoping it wasn't what they thought it was. If anything, facing any Begnion soldier in this sweltering heat was the last thing they wanted to deal with. However, curse his luck, Ryu's right eye twitched and found impending danger looming over them. There was no doubt they'd run into Begnion troops. He wasn't surprised if they had been Jarod's men. That'll just prove that man was annoying as buzzing fly in the summer and was like a damn cockroach. In a nutshell, Jarod wasn't going _anywhere_ anytime soon. Ryu sighed exasperatedly.

_That man is getting on my last nerves._ He thought dangerously.

-x-x-x-

"Look at all those troops!" Edward gawked in surprise when the Dawn Brigade finally found the source of Volug's direction and noise. "Jeez! They're gathering around that small building over there like lost puppies."

"It's too late to compare them to innocent puppies, Edward. They're just downright mutts now." Ryu said after, frowning. His azure eyes scanned the would-be battlefield; several men clad in red armor, wielding spears, axes, swords and tomes scattered about like weeds in an empty field. It was rather annoying. Begnion soldiers were gardening around and with them being here, there was no doubt the prince of Daein was around here somewhere. Of course Begnion would try to silence this outrageous rebellion force while it was fresh and young. "Something tells me the prince is around here." Ryu mumbled quietly to himself, though he was sure Volug heard it.

"Hm, look over there!" Micaiah pointed ahead. In the fair distance, everyone could see the object, or rather, objects, of her sudden interest. There was a towering man in brilliant white and lavender colored armor, wielding a lance plated in sparkling silver. He had just implanted his spear through an enemy soldier, forcing the man back with the thrust of his lance. The ground soldier groaned loudly before falling to his death. Nearby, there was another man with short, grayish blue hair, and from where they had been watching from, he seemed to be wearing a purple tunic and silver armor around his shoulder and chest to protect from damage. He drove his sword home through another soldier that attempted to get close to the entrance of the building, meeting his end right there.

The swordsman pushed the corpse back and returned back to the fray.

Lastly, there was a young woman with long, reddish-pink hair, the bangs curling around her face to hide some of her features. She was in a similarly colored armor; hints of yellow from underneath told them she had something under the armor. She expertly swung her axe to inflict damage upon her opponents, whom also tried to get too close. However, what caught Ryu's attention the most was the emerald winged reptile this young woman had been riding upon like a steed. The dragon teen tensed up a little; was she riding upon a dragon of Goldoa? Was that green dragon warped from its original form like Ashnard had done? Come to think of it, would _he_ be warped to stay trapped in his dragon form and be used like that? Ryu shuddered mentally at the thought. Just trying to stay in that form long enough to get used to it was taxing enough, but to _remain_ trapped in it forever until you died didn't sound like a delicious cake on a plate to Ryu.

"Hmph!" The silver-armored general grunted as he stabbed another soldier, felling him.

"Impressive as ever, General Tauroneo." The swordsman near him commented appraisingly. "However, we can't hold out forever. We are seriously outnumbered. It's time we put these vermin in their place. Are you ready, Jill?"

The girl upon the dragon steed twirled her axe. "Just give the word, Zihark!"

"All right. Let's get them, then!"

"You two take care not to rush the enemy and injure yourselves." Tauroneo warned, earning a nod from both of his younger charges.

"Who could the Begnion soldiers be attacking out here in the middle of nowhere?" Nolan wondered, having not heard the three's conversation, but noticed they were chatting with themselves about something.

"Whoever it is, we've to help them!" Micaiah urged.

"Wait a moment…" Sothe started up, staring at the general with the silver-white armor and lance from where he could. "The people Begnion are attacking… It couldn't be… That armor…" His pale golden eyes widened in realization. "Only certain people are allowed to wear it. I may very well know that soldier."

"Really?" Micaiah gasped, earning a nod from her friend. "Well, then all the more reason to go help them! Let's hurry!"

"Right."

"So how will we go about this?" Edward asked. "We'd be flattened kittens if we just rushed in the fight."

"Edward makes a good point. Rushing in will do us no good. We need a solid plan to fall upon. There are several troops and very few of us. Even if we get assistance from those three, we are still fairly outnumbered." Nolan suggested sagely. "It would be wise to remain alive against such odds."

"Point proven." Sothe admitted.

"Hm…If we split up in different teams, we can take on different portions of their forces." Micaiah began.

"I see. You want us to scatter into teams and draw out the soldiers' attention to us so the other three can move forward and take them out. We'll be distractions." The bearded brunet rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Aran and I shall be on a team." Laura smiled and her best friend right beside her with his lance ready.

"I shall accompany you two." Nolan invited himself.

"All right. That makes one team."

"Leonardo and I will get them." Edward grinned. "Hey, Meg, would you like to come with us? Your defenses would help keep Leo out of danger in case there are soldiers who try to attack him up front." The young girl with brown pigtails smiled warmly, her brown eyes fixed upon the myrmidon.

"Sure thing! I'll keep him protected, oh you know it!" She chirped, putting her helmet on, drawing out her sword and hoisted her shield up.

"I…shall go with them." Ilyana said, taking up her tome. Her light lavender eyes met Leonardo's gaze, who smiled warmly in her direction.

"Okay then that leaves me, Micaiah, Volug and Ryu—" Sothe trailed, his eyes scanning for the two laguz. Unfortunately, they weren't there. "Where the hell did they…?"

"S-SUB-HUMAN!" A voice cried out in pure terror, garnering the attention of the Dawn Brigade. They spun around simultaneously, watching a short battle ensue between Ryu, Volug and a red clad soldier. The brown wolf charged the man holding his spear in a death grip—he was sure his knuckles were white—and Ryu followed right along, drawing out his sword in a horizontal swipe. By the speed of both of them, they seemed like a blue and brown blur that jumped on something red. Volug slammed his bulk into the soldier, knocking him down. Ryu drove his sword through the man's throat while he was still flailing on the ground, ending him. Just after this, more Begnion soldiers turned to rush them, angered for their fallen comrade.

"Looks like they had the idea." Sothe noted. "Come on, we can't let them get in there and get hurt!"

The rest followed after the thief's lead, heading to rush the enemy. Yune hurriedly flew out of the dangers of the battle but still within proximity to watch.

Just further east of the battlefield stood a man with short, refined tan hair, a small beard upon his fair skin just on the bridge of his mouth, his dark brown eyes scanning the area claimed to be a warzone. His maroon robes draped over him, and in his hand was a red colored tome with gold trimming laced around it. It was obvious he was a mage—a Fire Mage to be precise. Around him stood three other fire mages and a priest with his stave, obviously watching the battle and would move if commanded or if their allies needed assistance. But, given the situation that they had their opponents outnumbered, there was no way they'd ever need help. However, he couldn't fathom why he was thinking of dread now…Something didn't seem right in this picture.

His numbers in men were decreasing, but knowing the enemies were only three people, this concerned him. How were three measly people keeping his soldiers in check? He snorted irritably and growled. "These fools are persistent. Why do they keep trying to defend what is already a hopeless cause?" He mumbled to himself. Snapping him out of his thoughts was a simple soldier, panting out of breath as he had obviously ran to meet his commander.

"S-sir! There's a problem!"

"What is it? Why aren't you all pushing the enemy back and claiming them?" The tan-haired commander leered.

"Sir, there's an extra addition of forces that are fighting us as we speak! They simply came from nowhere!" The troop reported with obvious evidence of panic in his voice.

"Calm down, soldier. They just might be reinforcements to protect that wretch of an orphan. They are nothing compared to us. Don't let them out of your sights either. Squash them all!"

"Yessir, Commander Wystan!" The soldier saluted, turned around and hurried back to the fray to give his commander's orders to the rest of his cohorts. Watching him go off, Wystan grumbled something unintelligently under his breath. Things were certainly getting interesting, but word of these reinforcements or whoever they are was, to say in the least, unexpected. How would they have gotten a messenger sent out to recruit more to aid them? He had been watching the battle zone carefully. Not one came out of that building those three were patrolling like police that even resembled a messenger. So how had they requested assistance?

"This is…certainly becoming more interesting by the minute." The Fire Mage commander mused.

-x-x-x-

"Meet the reinforcements! Wipe them out!" Begnion soldiers roared about, each of their comrades overhearing the command. "This is orders from Commander Wystan!" Sothe rolled his eyes and prepared to attack. One soldier with a lance met his gaze and initiated the fight. He lunged forward, thrusting his lance's blade to pierce Sothe through his head, only to be met with the glistening shine of the greenet's dagger. The clash of sparks was created instead, allowing Sothe to maneuver around the soldier. His footwork distracted the man, allowing Micaiah time to chant her spell and command a shining blast of magic to blind and strike. The Thani spell crushed the man within his armor, virtually squashing all life out of him like an empty soda can crumbling under someone's foot.

Another soldier replaced his fallen comrade, only to meet his own end with Sothe's exceptionally skilled throwing of knives to faces. Just after him, was another soldier; however this one grasped sword in both of his hands. Sothe met the man head on, their weapons meeting and clashed, sparks flickering off from the rebounding iron of their weapons. The soldier nearly overpowered the young thief, throwing him off balance just slightly but Sothe regained his composure and blocked the vertical slice that would have split his head in half.

Thankfully, another Thani spell crashed over the soldier, allowing Sothe the room to move out of the way and then kick the man down. The light magic felt like a burning fire, and hearing the sound of melting armor upon a body was rather unpleasant, to say the least. Still, Sothe was glad _he_ wasn't the one Micaiah was aiming for.

"Sothe, are you all right?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

"I'm glad."

"Are you all right?"

"I am fine. Come, we must help the others."

"All right. I'm with you, Micaiah."

-x-x-x-

"Look out, Edward!" Leonardo called out as he assembled an arrow in his bowstring faster than he could ever remember and launched an arrow to hit a soldier that had snuck up on his friend squarely in the face between his eyes. He fell with a thud, making the myrmidon of his target spin around. "Whoa, thanks for the save, Leo."

"It's no problem, but please pay more attention to your surroundings. You could have gotten hurt."

"Sorry Leo. I was focused on the guy in front of me."

"I know. There are more of them, so let's go, all four of us." The blond-haired archer looked at the two females in their small group. "Meg, Ilyana, how are you two faring right now?"

"I'm just fine Leonardo." The youngest of them replied.

"…I am fine…" The thunder mage answered, smiling lightly. "But we should be careful."

"Of course. Edward and Meg, you two should keep the front up while Ilyana and I handle the rear. It's a simple but effective plan. We'll need—" The archer didn't get to finish as Edward shoved him aside; an axe was thrown straight for him from behind! The myrmidon ducked to the right, watching the spinning weapon sail over his and Leonardo's head and arch back around in a boomerang fashion. There was no mistaking what that was; a Hand Axe.

"Damn!" Edward cursed, his eyes darkening on their assailant. The boomerang axe was caught by its thrower, who leered at the young teens, grinning.

"Even if you're reinforcements, you're still a bunch of kids!" the soldier scorned. "This isn't a place for brats like you. I'll give you one chance… Get lost!" He was soon joined by five other cohorts of his, who were armed with similar weapons. "I'd rather not dirty my hands with blood of kids, if you catch my drift."

"Oh, we catch your drift all right, but we're fine right here, thanks." Edward feigned a smirk. "We have every intention of staying here."

"Hmph. It's your deaths then. Don't complain to us that you were never warned!" the Begnion militant bellowed, he and his group lunging forward, one by one. Meg stood in their way, thrusting her broad, iron plated shield, knocking them back. They grunted in surprise of the young girl's sudden burst of brute strength. Edward took this opportunity to jump over Meg with a graceful flip, landing upon on soldier, flattening him with the force of his weight. The myrmidon used this momentum to clash axe and blade with the second soldier, only to best him as swiftly as he moved. The brunet moved, slashing away to render the men useless against the next wave of attacks.

He struck their legs and arms, and the last one met the pommel of his sword's hilt squarely in his face. They all shouted at him but didn't get further than that as arrows struck their necks from behind. Leonardo smirked. "Perhaps it is them that should be paying attention." One soldier managed to survive, and blindly attempted to attack the archer. Meg intercepted him however, using her shield as a barrier between them, using the flat edge of her sword to backhand the infantryman a ways off. "Damn you brats!" He spat, glaring darkly at them. Unfortunately for him, a dark cloud formed overhead, blocking out the desert's setting sunlight on the horizon. He looked up and instantly paled.

Three electrical bolts rained upon him, electrocuting him on the spot. He screamed as he felt his body growing numb; he fell with a thud just like the first soldier they encountered. Ilyana pushed a few strands of her hair from her face, but it was evident her expression never changed. "…He's done…" She said simply.

"Good job everyone." Leonardo praised. "That was certainly close, I'll say, but we pulled it off well."

"Yeah…" The brunet looked over to see Nolan, Aran and Laura fighting off their own wave of soldiers from the left. "Hey, there's Nolan and his group. Let's join them. They look like they need some help over there."

"Yes, that's a good idea. Come on!" Leonardo led his small band towards Nolan's. They were just upon a ledge that easily led to the building being blocked by the white-armored general.

"Take this!" Nolan shouted as he drove his Steel Axe horizontally to inflict a fatal wound upon his opponent who tried to best him with a mere lance. He pivoted when he sensed another soldier attempt to attack him from his right; however, a javelin soared past him to pierce through the man's abdomen, courtesy of Aran. Nolan quickly waved him thanks as he kept up his frontal assault. He and Aran were sandwiching Laura between them as the wave of Begnion soldiers came upon them, mostly mages, fire mages to be exact.

They tried to hit Laura while the other two were occupied, however the young healer was adept in dodging their magic, and deflected a few of them with the orb of her staff. "Push them back!" Aran shouted to Nolan, using his lance as a pole horizontally, shoving the cluttering of three soldiers in front of him back with robust energy. The three stumbled back slightly, nearly tumbling over one another as they backed up. Nolan elbowed one, kicked the second after him, and his last third one was slapped away with the flat surface of his Steel Axe. "This isn't looking good." The bearded man admitted.

Aran nodded softly. "Quite, but we have—"

"Need some help?"

The two fighters look over their shoulder to find Leonardo and his group joining the fray. Edward was already meeting the fallen soldiers Aran had managed to push back, sidestepping their fenced spearing and retaliated with his own swift attacks. Leonardo shot one of the men Nolan knocked back with two arrows, one to his leg and the other to his arm, making him fall back down. Ilyana casted another Thunder spell upon another and Meg followed up and cut through the idiot's neck. The navy-blue clad Daein soldier and axe-user smiled at their companions "Perfect timing, boys." Nolan encouraged. "You too, Meg and Ilyana. We could use the added help."

The blond-haired archer nodded. "Of course, Nolan." Meg gave an offered smile before she put her helmet back on. The Thunder mage of the group nodded in assurance.

"Let's run these Begnion dogs out!" Edward called over his shoulder, grinning as he met with another soldier. Aran joined his assault, both sharing blows against the single spearman clad in red. All the militant of Begnion could do was block the attacks of both Dawn Brigadiers with his buckler of a shield, stepping back as they pushed him back. "Stand back!" Nolan called over, equipping himself with his own Hand Axe. He twirled it once in the grasp of his right hand and chucked it straight for Edward and Aran. Timing it correctly, the myrmidon and lancer sidestepped just in time, watching the confused expression of the Begnion soldier a split second before the blade of the axe struck him in the face. It crushed in his nose, and no doubt his face was split. Blood splattered from the impact and he fell backwards with a loud thud. He didn't move an inch, having lost all instinct as soon as the Hand Axe came in contact.

The two mages that were left backed up and tried to scorch the group with their magic. Unfortunately, their spells didn't get too far as two knives were thrown to their heads from the right, rendering them useless. The others looked up and saw Sothe and Micaiah approaching them. "Are you all okay?" The thief asked them.

"Yes. That's all of them for now." Nolan said as he stepped on the dead soldier's body to jerk his axe from its temporary lodge. "Just a few minor injuries I can assume, but nothing that won't heal over."

"Allow me." Laura volunteered. Sothe held out his left arm which had been stabbed by the blade of a lance not long ago, Nolan mimicked him. The black-haired healer channeled her power through the stave, the blue orb lighting up as it sprinkled the healing energy over her two wounded companions. They relaxed slightly, watching the wounds mend and the blood dry up. "There. Are you feeling better?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes, thanks to you, Laura." Sothe replied.

"Thank you," came Nolan's response after, "but now has anyone spotted our two missing laguz friends?" Everyone partially froze. With the battle on their minds, they had slightly forgotten about Ryu and Volug. In fact, those two vanished in the thick of the battle. Everyone had their focus on Begnion soldiers and helping out the—they assumed—forces of the prince. "…Damn." Sothe muttered under his breath.

"I believe we should try to keep an eye out for them and find them. Their lives are just as important." Nolan advised.

"How hard can it be to find Ryu? His hair makes him stand out like a sheep in the middle of a pack of foxes." Edward half joked, but the meaning was there. Ryu really _shouldn't_ be hard to find. "That and Volug's the only wolf we have around, right? So, he shouldn't be any harder than Ryu."

Nolan closed his eyes. "Yes, but that doesn't mean the terrain is on our side and the weather. The sands haven't been conflicting us this far, but it may obscure our vision anytime. Do be careful regardless of the objective."

"Right…"

"Sothe? Is that you?" A voice all too familiar to the greenet spoke his name. He and his friends turned to see the pale-blue haired swordmaster and wyvern rider staring at him. "Ah, it really is you, Sothe."

"Zihark, Jill. It's good to see you both as well. What are you two and General Tauroneo doing out here fighting Begnion?"

"We're guarding the prince inside this building here." Jill replied. "They came from nowhere, really."

"I see. Then, we'll help you out."

"Will you, Sothe?"

"Of course, Zihark. We've heard about the prince being here gathering forces. We were looking for him and hoping to confirm the rumors. It seems running into you three was a blessing then."

The Daeins shared a chuckle before nodding, Jill continuing the small conversation. "Yes, that's all true. Shall we join together like old times?" The green-haired rogue nodded, supplying a grin. "We'll need all the help we can get. I'm glad you and your friends came. We truly appreciate it and so will the prince."

"Let's get rid of these Begnion soldiers and thank one another formally once this is over." Sothe said, noticing another wave of Begnion soldiers approaching them from the corner of his eye. "Get ready everyone, here they come!"

-x-x-x-

Wystan growled. His forces were decreasing in numbers by the minute. These reinforcements were besting his men, and by the light report, they were nothing but _children_. How humiliating! What the hell were his men thinking? Were they EVEN thinking? How could they be defeated by mere children who used weapons like toys? "What are those idiots doing? They were not trained to be killed by stupid brats that believe they are heroes! This isn't a damn fairytale! Where are my mages and archers? I want them all killed and burned to ashes!"

"Yes sir!" The nearest soldier saluted. "Also, sir, permission to speak freely."

"Permission granted. Hurry up."

"Well, some of our men were felled by a human who could use magic…"

"They're probably a mage. Of course they would!" Wystan snapped irritably.

The soldier paled a little. "No, sir, this boy is using magic _without_ a tome. We don't know how, but he took out more than half of our forces the eastern zone with just one spell." The tan-haired mage stared incredulously at his man. A boy using magic without the use of tomes? Wait! He's heard of this before, and it had been recent. If this was true, then that means…

"These reinforcements _must_ be the Dawn Brigade!" He hissed aloud. "No wonder! We have underestimated our enemies and gravely paying the price. There can be no mistake about this. That silver-haired wench and her merry band are here." Wystan glared at his man. "That boy who can use magic, is his hair…blue?"

"Y-yes sir it is."

"I want him captured. The wench can wait just bring that blue-haired bastard to me. General Jarod will be pleased when I have one of his grand prizes brought to him." Wystan ordered. "Do everything you can to overwhelm and overpower him, but bring him to me!"

The soldier saluted and hurried off to gather another platoon of Begnion soldiers. One of the soldiers present, however, approached the tan-haired mage in command. While he was dressed in armor, it was an obvious color of violet where it would normally be red for Begnion. A scabbard was fastened to his left hip, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword instinctively. He wore a violet colored helmet over his head, which covered his eyes and his hair. But, there was no mistaking that blood red eyes glared from underneath the visor. Wystan turned to meet the enigma of a soldier's gaze and frowned.

"It appears you were right after all." The mage commander grumbled in admittance. "There is a boy who can use magic freely and his hair is blue, just like you said. How did you know he would be here?"

The purple-clad militant said nothing until a few moments later; he broke the eerie silence between them.

"I just knew." He stated as his voice hit the alto tone. "…And he shall be coming your way."

"What?"

"…Nothing."

"If you have something to say, I suggest you say it." Wystan glared. The soldier simply remained where he was, silent, but appeared to be contemplating something. The maroon garbed mage scoffed irritably and refused to wait for the young man's answer. "Whatever. He'll be good as ours soon enough. And then I shall hand deliver him personally to General Jarod. Oh, this is a lucky stroke for me!"

"…"

-x-x-x-

Volug snarled as a myrmidon of Begnion tried engaging him. He growled, forcing the man to cower, and took the opportunity of the pause to lunge forward. His teeth met flesh as his jaw snapped around the man's neck, tearing out his skin as he ripped open a flesh wound that would take years to mend. The man roared in agony before being brought down by Volug's sharp pull. Not believing his prey was dead, the wolf swung the man by the neck with his mouth clamped shut continually, wildly thrashing and prancing about as he viciously swung the growing limp body around like a rag doll. Successfully hearing the snap of bone that had once held together break beneath his grip, the laguz dropped the lifeless body down. The taste of human flesh and blood was never in his cup of tea, but it was necessary. He had to guard his young, fellow laguz charge.

Speaking of his young charge, Volug turned his attention to steel clashing against one another, the source being the aforementioned blue-haired laguz up against two Begnion myrmidons. Growling lowly, the brown lupine began making his way towards the fight, only to be stopped by a flash of red. Volug paused as flames erupted like a huge pillar of light right in front of him, a few embers bouncing off the sand-covered ground. Internally, Volug cursed his luck; Fire Mages were so typical but he hadn't been expecting them. If anything, the beast laguz absolutely _hated_ fire and having fire magic was a dreading weakness.

"_Well, shit out of luck._" Volug swore as he leapt out of the way from being hit by another Elfire, the same pillar of magic from earlier. He spotted his magical assailants in the distance and snarled. He had to get rid of them first if he wanted to avoid being barbequed laguz. They were each firing magic spells, one after the other, in hopes of scorching the sub-human that raced around as if he owned the place. "Someone roast that trash!" One of the mages roared. The men got an idea and readied a few archers beside the mages. Using their fire magic, they chanted quickly, lighting their comrades' arrows alight in flame and then the archers shot their lighted arrows!

"_Clever tactics for some beorc, I suppose._" Volug commented dryly, avoiding the raining of fire arrows coming his way. He sidestepped a few, ducked under another batch and hopped to the left and right respectively to keep his evasion up. The closer Volug advanced to get towards those foolish beorc that attacked him, the more arrows and fire came his way. He was forced to retreat back a few times to avoid being charred alive or avoid being struck with an arrow. This wasn't any good.

"Volug, hang on!" He heard Ryu's voice. The blue-haired swordsman kicked one of the myrmidons he had been fighting away, buying himself some time to conjure a magic spell. Ever since his training with the royal laguz a few days ago, Ryu had attuned to more of his magical talent. Apparently, his "lost magic" was recovered, and he had been itching to use the spells he believed he once used. It felt right to use them. It felt he had used them many times before, but the mystery of that still eluded him. The last time, he wiped out a good half platoon of Begnion soldiers with a powerful wind spell, Typhoon.

As much as he wanted to repeat that, he didn't. Allowing the elements to surround and gather into the palm of his hand, Ryu's blood grew cold as he fingered the essence of energy flowing into him. The air around him grew colder, despite the desert's blistering heat that hounded on everyone else. While it was soothing and frigid, he needed to focus. Ryu concentrated the subzero aura and magic into a spherical orb of light into the cupping of his hands and released it in the direction of the mages and archers trying to shoot Volug down. "**Blizzard**!" Ryu casted, the burst of magic exhilarated as the chills of the element glower in full force. The icy wind carried over to them, and soon enough, a huge multitude of jagged glaciers erupted from underneath and around the soldiers. They didn't even get a chance to howl in pain as they were encased in ice.

The few seconds they were trapped in the pinnacle of ice had frozen their blood and souls on contact. When the icicles died down, it burst into shards and shards of glassy ice, releasing its prisoners. They fell like squashed flies that had been swatted with fly swatters, unmoving and unresponsive. Volug watched with amazement awe at Ryu's ability to use, what appeared to be, a high level of magic that was possibly unmatched in beorc standards. The wolf was about to nod his thanks to the blue-haired swordsman when he noticed there was a remaining myrmidon behind him. Snarling, Volug rushed up to meet the attack head on. Foolish! He knew it was stupid, but he simply couldn't let Ryu get hurt. It was an order by his queen. She put entire emphasis on guarding Ryu more than Micaiah, possibly due to the fact the swordsman had yet to find his true potential.

That and she believed he would be a great match to test against strength sometime down the road.

"Volug!" Ryu spun around to watch as the wolf charge the myrmidon, snapping the man's neck like before. The wolf spat the human flesh and blood out of his mouth. Ryu stared down at the wolf laguz, eyes flashing and filled with utmost concern. Volug noticed his gaze and looked up, wondering.

"_Don't worry about me. I'll be fine._"

Ryu shook his head. "_Don't say that! You just rushed in and took the brunt of that attack! I know you're hurt._"

"_I am, I won't lie. But it's nothing. There's not many of them left, we have to finish this._"

"_Not until I heal you first._"

"_Don't waste your power on me. Save it for later._"

Ignoring his charge's order, Ryu's fingers lit up in a familiar whitish-green aura. He concentrated the energy to one hand and held it over Volug. "**Heal**," Ryu whispered the chanting of the spell's name echoed ethereally and responded to its caller's voice. Once the energy swept over the wolf laguz, he immediately felt rejuvenated and restored, but it would be some time before his energy returned full force. "_When will you learn to listen to your peers?_" Volug half scolded.

"_Not for awhile. You were hurt because of me not paying attention to my surroundings. I owe it to you that much._"

Volug shook his head. "_Protecting you is an order from the Queen. Getting injured, while I didn't agree on it coming with the package, just so happens to be apart of such. Don't get caught up like that again._"

"_Very well, you win._"

"My my! Look at what we have here!"

-x-x-x-

A voice broke through the two laguz ancient language conversation, causing chills to run down their spines. Both spun around to come face to face with a man with short, tan hair, same colored mustache, fair skin and dark brown was garbed in maroon robes and carried a red tome with gold trimming laced around its edges. Beside him were two fire mages with similar red tomes, about a dozen spearmen and a priest, obviously there for healing. The silent soldier from earlier also made his presence. Well, this predicament didn't look so good. "What shall we call this? 'A boy and his dog'? Ha!" The mage commander spat, earning himself a pair of glaring violet and blue daggers.

His gaze turned to Volug, a glowering sneer edging its way to his features. "How charming. You must be one of the foul sub-humans of the deep sands. That explains the stench." The laguz snarled at the insult. The mage in charge returned his focus upon the blue-haired teen again.

"You and your friends are a tenacious bunch, I'll grant you that. You do realize Daein isn't known for winning its wars. Why do you come to help the helpless? Why do you persist? Your efforts will be wasted away like this very desert!"

Ryu frowned. "What is Begnion doing out here? I do not recall General Jarod instructing his men to kill innocent people that were hanging around in the desert. Has he gone insane yet?"

"Hmph! A traitor like you would know nothing! What business we have out here is none of your concern any longer. Even if you're the so-called maiden's 'Angel of Death'."

"Who are you?" Ryu asked, ignoring the apparent title he supposedly thought Begnion conjured for him.

"I am Wystan, commander of these forces of Begnion. Your merry band has been a thorn in my side since you arrived here and started thrashing about. However, I've heard a little about you and your, let's say, magical feats, boy." This didn't seem to faze Ryu much. He knew Jarod would spill the information of his abilities to his men to make him that much easier to find. Not like his electric blue hair was evidence enough, but it did make him stand out like a sore thumb. "General Jarod would love to have his hands on you. You're caused nothing but trouble for him. Now, surrender! You're outnumbered!" Indeed, he was surrounded and spears pointed at him and Volug. As much as Ryu wanted to pull off a magic attack, he couldn't cast it while Volug was so close to him.

Trapped again by the same unfortunate tactic that got him, Laura and Micaiah captured last time, Ryu reluctantly raised his arms in defeat, dropping his sword. Volug growled at him, surprised. "_The hell are you doing?!_"

"_You're right next to me. I can't attack them. I don't want to do anything rash, and neither will you, Volug. One move and we'll be barbecue or worse. I don't want to juggle the options we barely have here._" Ryu replied softly, however it caught the attention of Wystan and the purple clad soldier.

"What's this? Communicating in the ancient tongue to the sub-human? Heh, then there's no explaining why you have such magical talent. Ha-ha-ha-ha! Why hadn't the General figured this out sooner?!"

"What?" Ryu stared incredulously in wonder.

Wystan shook his head. "Of course you would hang around such filth and garbage as sub-humans! You have the blood of a sub-human in your veins! You half-breed bastard! You're a Branded! No wonder you have such strange color of hair and strange powers! It all comes down to the blood running through your body!" Ryu partially froze to this. Branded? Who were they? Or rather, what were they? How could he be a Branded if he was identified as a Goldoa dragon? This wasn't making any sense!

"…What? How…?"

**_"Don't listen to him, Ryu!" _**

The blue-haired teen's eyes widened when he heard his name. It came from a voice so close, so strangely familiar, but from where? It wasn't Volug's voice, no. It wasn't Sothe's, either, and it couldn't be Micaiah's because this voice was masculine. It was someone's voice he knew, yes, that much was true, but, where? Where could it have come from? Ryu froze in a trance, staring at the ground as images once again claimed his mind. They were flashing rapidly, one after another. It was so hard to keep up! Why was it happening to him and why now of all places? No, no, he couldn't let them get the best of him. He didn't want to retreat into the corners of his mind and remember those images. Ryu bit his bottom lip, clutching his head, trying not to drop to his knees. Why was the voice so damn familiar? Who did it belong to? Why did he feel he _knew_ it? He'd have to because he wouldn't have recognized it.

"_Ryu!_" Volug called to him, trying to snap him back to reality.

**_"You _****are****_ a dragon! Get up and fight!"_**

Ryu snapped out of his trance, watching as the man clad in purple armor brandished his sword, cutting through three of the soldiers standing in front of him. Getting the hint, Ryu grabbed the hilt of his sword, engaging in blind combat with the confused soldiers. Volug joined the fray, clawing his way through the circle of soldiers surrounding them. It happened so fast, sword slashing through flesh, blood pooling around them, mixing with the sand below his feet. He couldn't see correctly, but he knew what he was doing. It felt like his body was moving in accordance with someone else's movements. The three were literally dancing around with the soldiers; taking one step back, two steps forward, three steps to the left, two steps to the right, duck under, swing around them, counter and parry their attempts. Lance met sword, teeth met flesh, it was a bloody dance.

Finally, after ten minutes of the fight, only Wystan was left, but he had been caught up in the wave of the confusion, he hadn't been able to inflict any damage on his targets. The soldier turncoat walked up to the commander mage, who coughed up blood, spitting into the sand.

"How…did this happen? We had you…surrounded." He choked.

"…It appears you underestimated the timing, Commander Wystan."

The tan-haired mage glared up at the voice's owner. "You! You traitorous scum! Just like that boy! I'm beginning to wonder if mysterious, silent soldiers are to be watched more carefully."

"…Do as you wish. But let me remind you. I only _assisted_ you in order to find who I was looking for."

Wystan trembled, not in fear, but in anger. "Y…you meant to betray us all along?! You…tricked the general into your lies!" The soldier simply smirked at the man, his eyes flashing in cold anger, however.

"…You've figured it out. Well, now that your usefulness is obvious at this point, I have no reason to keeping you alive. Any last words?"

Wystan shook his head, stunned beyond any at this realization. "Absurd. One must not meet failure against tattered remnants of a conquered—" A sharp edge of a blade stabbed the mage commander through his heart, bursting from his backside. His eyes shrunk to the size of peas, his breath and vision betraying him as it clouded. His breath was drawing shorter by the passing seconds. His brain was trying to prevent the body's shut down, but that proved useless. Blood tried to pump through the veins, only to leak from the afflicted wound. Wystan's hearing shut down, his senses cut off like a knife running through a rope. "…coun...try..." He muttered out last. The soldier withdrew his sword from the bloody corpse of the mage, conveniently using the man's robes to clean off his sword of his blood. He sheathed his sword and turned to meet Ryu and Volug.

However, the blue-haired teen and wolf weren't alone.

"Ryu! Volug!" a girl's voice called to him. In rushing moments to come, a group of beorc came to Ryu's side in an instant. The soldier eyed them all suspiciously, but soon sensed something coming out of teenager of object. He felt peace emitting from him while being around these people. The one who called his name was a young woman with sparkling silver hair. "Thank goodness you're both all right!" The brown lupine grunted in response.

"Hey, we finished off all those Begnion soldiers—whoa!" a brown haired myrmidon began, but when his eyes met the stranger standing before them. "Ugh, we missed one!"

"Wait." Ryu stopped them. "He saved Volug and I…he saved us." What in the world? Why would a Begnion soldier betray his own men to save the enemy? Wait. Didn't something similar occur when Ryu joined them? They exchanged looks with one another before pausing slightly.

"He doesn't appear to be fighting us." A blond-haired archer spoke up next. "What are his intentions?"

The whispers of the others didn't matter as the eyes of his object were staring at him strangely. The others stopped talking and watched the scene unfold before them. It was a staring contest, obviously, but it wasn't intense or creating fires of tension at all. Blue eyes of curiosity stared into the unreadable, red ones across from him, sheltered by the helmet. Everyone kept on their guard, preparing for anything.

"I am not here to hurt any of you. I am only here for one." The young man in violet armor stated. He slowly inched his right hand up and pointed his index finger straight in Ryu's direction.

"Wait, what do you want with Ryu?!" Laura cried out worriedly.

"I do not want anything of him in general, but of his words."

"What?" clueless Sothe chipped in. "What the hell are you talking about?" That was the question just everyone wanted to ask, albeit different in wording. The thief glared pale gold daggers at this stranger, staying alert. "If you're with Begnion, then you're not to be trusted."

"Lower your weapons. I am not going to attack him or any of you."

"You think we'll—!"

"Sothe do as he says." Micaiah instructed sternly. "Please, do it."

Sensing something was about to happen and trusting his best friend's judgment, the group lowered their weapons. "…Fine. I trust your words, Micaiah." Seeing the humans around Ryu cease their hostility, even partially, the purple-clad man nodded and kept his gaze focused on Ryu, who didn't budge or blink. It was hard to say if he was even breathing, but the man knew he was just studying the enigma that was he.

"Ryu, you've caused a lot of trouble, you know."

"Of course I have."

The man nodded, removing his helmet. A long curtain of lavender hair fell down once freed from its imprisonment of the helmet. He bore no bangs, but Ryu knew he must have brushed them back. However, what caught his attention was the small, red mark on this young man's forehead. It resembled his, almost, and Kurth's as well. Those deep, auburn eyes locked firmly with his azure orbs. There was no malice in those eyes. "Begnion's been after you and the girl for a long while. They almost captured you, I've heard."

"How do you know this?" Sothe demanded.

"I used to work with them, obviously. Doesn't take an amateur to figure out the Silver-Haired Maiden is popular among the works of the Begnion generals. There has been word of her "Magical Blue Puppet" following behind her title. You can wager a guess as to who that refers to. News spread fast across the countries."

"Hmph." The rogue of the group scoffed.

"Well, what do you want? Hopefully not here to antagonize us with riddles and insults." Edward finally said, his tone losing its jolliness.

"No. I am only here to assist Ryu and Ryu only." The man narrowed his eyes at the others, slowly returning his gaze to the blue-haired swordsman. "Well?"

"…I don't know. Why only assist me?" Ryu questioned, seemingly to contemplate something. One thing was for sure, something about this guy was oddly familiar, just like that voice from before. Were they connected somehow? "What do you gain for only helping me? I don't have much to offer. I have sworn my allegiance to the Dawn Brigade and their efforts to free Daein."

"Then I shall follow you and your lead."

"Hold on. Why are you so insistent on helping us?" Micaiah asked next, a worry evident in her voice.

The man shook his head. "If it means helping and assisting Ryu, then that's all that matters." Again, his gaze fixed on the aforesaid person. "Again, will you allow my presence?"

Ryu took a look at each of his friends. Micaiah and Laura wore looks of worry, Sothe's was set on glaring, Nolan looked like he was contemplating, Edward, Leonardo and Meg wore frowns, Aran seemed to be in a mixture of pondering and upset, Volug was snarling and Ilyana, dear Ilyana, looked like she was about to pass out from hunger. Frowning himself, Ryu stared at the lavender-haired male. "I…can sense something about you that you mean your word, but I'll leave the decision to Micaiah and Sothe." He slowly closed his eyes. "They are the ones who allowed me to join the Dawn Brigade in the first place. If it hadn't been for them, I probably would have never been here."

"Before we can even _agree_ to this, you have yet to state your name."

"How rude of me, you may call me Teepo." While his immediate gaze was settled on the light mage and thief, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Ryu. Nobody seemed to notice how stiff and frozen he appeared, once the name escaped the soldier's lips. _I wish I could come to a conclusion soon. I know I just saw him flinch to my name. My eyes did _not_ betray me …Could he really be…?_

"What do you think, Micaiah?"

All attention was focused on the light mage as she, too, closed her eyes. A moment of silence swept over them before she reopened them and smiled lightly. "His heart is the truth. I will allow it. You have not sided with Begnion completely, but you are in search of someone…are you not?" Surprised by her talents, much like Ryu had many weeks prior, Teepo nodded simply. "That is correct. I am looking for someone. And I believe assisting Ryu will help me find them."

"I see then. Well, we came off to a bad start, I'm Micaiah."

"Well met, Micaiah. If my sword and magic can be of use, then use them as you see fit."

"Yes—wait you can use magic, too?"

Teepo eyed her curiously. "Yes. Is it such a terrible thing?"

Sensing something else about this situation, but deciding to leave it at that, the light mage shook her head at his question. "No, nothing is wrong with that." _Except something tells me you can use magic without tomes like Ryu can. And, I sense a deep power within you that is very similar to Ryu. Is he…also a laguz?_

"If we're well acquainted, let's go see if the orphan prince is actually here." Sothe suggested. Nobody argued with that idea and began following Sothe back to the building they found earlier.

-x-x-x-

"General Tauroneo!" Sothe called out to the man in white armor. He had short brown hair that layered over strands of itself, a burly mustache of brown settled upon his grown face. Those hardened yet soft blue of his eyes met the pale gold ones of the teenaged thief. There was a strong smile implanted on Sothe's face that told everyone who knew him that he was excited and happy to have been reunited with old friends. "Jill and Zihark, too. I can't believe you three are here. I haven't seen you since the war three years ago. Who would've thought we would meet in such a place like this?"

"It is good to see you, Sothe. You've grown so much, I hardly recognized you. It is rather odd to be meeting here, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Sothe agreed. "We've a lot of catching up to do, but that can wait for later. I'd like to make introductions." He nodded towards the group standing behind him, his eyes first upon the light mage and the orange canary now upon her shoulder. "This is Micaiah—"

Unfortunately, the young teen was cut off by someone stepping out from behind Tauroneo. He was obviously an old man with graying, dark navy blue locks dragging off his skull, a little bald spot visible where hair used to be in the front. His dark, purple and black robes indicated he was a mage of sorts, possibly one who used the dark arts of magic. Upon his pale skinned face he wore simple, small circular glasses, which had a chain hooked onto them for easier access and to prevent them from being misplaced. "And who have we here? Hmmm?" The creepy dark robed male inquired, eyeing the Dawn Brigade members suspiciously.

Sothe narrowed his eyes and frowned. "Step back. Who are you?"

"Do not worry, Sothe." Tauroneo assured the young thief before turning his attention on the old man who came out from virtually nowhere. "Lord Izuka, there's no need for concern. This young man is Sothe. We, Jill, Zihark and myself, know him well. Sothe, may I introduce Lord Izuka. He is advisor and close confidant to Prince Pelleas, Ashnard's son." Well, the old fart was certainly strange, but to hear the word "prince" and the phrase "Ashnard's son" sparked a light in the Dawn Brigade. Sothe instantly turned to Micaiah.

"Micaiah! Did you hear that? The prince _is_ here." The girl by name smiled at her friend's words and everyone else, except Volug—who stayed out of sight—and Teepo, shared that same expression. "Still," Sothe started up again, "I can't believe we ran into you three—of all people—guarding the prince. What a lucky coincidence. General Tauroneo, we came here because we heard the prince was gathering forces in the desert. We want to help you in your efforts. Will you let us join you?"

"Certainly. Daein needs all the courage we can muster. Let us join forces."

"See here!" Izuka butted in rather rudely. "What do you think you're doing?! You can't just ignore me and start making decisions! These people are suspicious, veeerrry suspicious." His eyes flashed eerily, making even Ryu cringe. "You're all Begnion spies, aren't you? Come now, tell the truth!"

Sothe's own irises flashed dangerously at the accusation. "We're the Dawn Brigade. We'd _never_ work with those damn, filthy curs!"

A sudden realization hit Izuka as his eyes widened incredulously. "T-the Dawn Brigade!?" He exclaimed excitedly. "But how? Then, perhaps the girl…No! Could it be?" He quickly moved towards Micaiah, who was baffled at the man's random ramblings. "Are you the Silver-Haired Maiden? Do you have the healing touch of Sacrifice?" Izuka asked rapidly, taking Micaiah's hand into his own, almost greedily.

"E-excuse me!" the light mage withdrew her hand from the advisor.

"Take your hands off her!" Sothe growled, stepping in between Izuka and Micaiah. His trust of the man was already thin the moment he accused them of aiding Begnion, but for him to even approach Micaiah as he had done, no less _touch_ her, was the final draw. How dare he! Apparently the danger of which he was within Sothe's dagger was closing in, Izuka didn't seem to mind at all.

"If she's here then…then…" His eyes traveled and began their search for something else. They found each of the Dawn Brigade members' heads, but that shade of blue caught his utmost attention. "Yes, yes! There is no mistaking it! The maiden's Angel of Death!" That title again, huh? Edward stared at this crazy lunatic that called himself an advisor. Izuka approached Ryu just as fast as he had Micaiah moments ago, examining the swordsman from head to toe. "Yes, yes. This is him in the flesh! The magical smiter of souls. Ahhhhhh!" The prince's advisor also had the audacity of touching Ryu.

Flabbergasted, Ryu blinked, unable to truly process what the hell just happened. "What…? I'm no Angel of Death…" Teepo sighed irritably; he was already annoyed with this man that he was trying his own thin patience.

"Off." He swatted Izuka's hands off the blue-haired teen's own, his blood red eyes narrowing dangerously at him. Well, seems Izuka has earned two men's attention, both wanting to strangle him to death.

Ignoring the offending slap to his hands, the dark-robed advisor gasped. "What a coincidence! Or is it fate? Or maybe it's my unrivaled skill as a revolutionary organizer? With the Silver-Haired Maiden and her Angel of Death at our side, we'll surely win over the people of Daein! And then…yes! Incite scattered rebel movements, mm-hm, and then, further… the future of…change…" Now what was he babbling about? Sothe and the others just stared at Izuka incredulously; some worried for the man's sanity and others not really giving a care for his health. He was strange, no questions asked.

"Is he…touched in the head?" Sothe quietly asked his old friends. Zihark sighed and Jill looked away shamefully. While they didn't mind Izuka, his rather creepy personality certainly wasn't too welcome.

"Oh, my, but yes. I'll beckon to…no, demand that the vicious scalawags…surrender! Perfect! I am a genius!" Izuka suddenly stopped his babbling and finally realized he was being watched by curious sets of eyes. He had his focus on Micaiah and Ryu, however. "Come, come, my dear maiden! You must meet the prince! Bring your dear smiter of souls with you!" The man exclaimed, rushing back inside the building as he giggled…creepily. Well, that was out of the way. Once he was out of earshot, Tauroneo sighed deeply.

"Goddess help me…" The general began. "I swear, that man could try the patience of a stone."

"Hmm…" Sothe pondered. "Everyone, I don't like the sound of this, Micaiah and I will be back."

The white-armored general headed inside, followed by Sothe and Micaiah. The others decided to wait for what was to come, being hopeful. "I'm glad we found the prince, but boy, that guy was _scary_. And I thought I'd never say that!" Edward said. Leonardo and Ilyana whole-heartedly agreed. Sensing the other beorc weren't around, Volug returned from where he had gone off to, sitting beside Ryu as he sat down not too far from the group. The wolf glanced up at him, wondering what distracted the blue-haired laguz teen.

"_Is there anything wrong?_" Volug asked.

"…Yeah. Just one thing." Ryu said, sighing as his eyes found the violet ones of his supposed 'guardian'. "Volug…Am I really a smiter of souls?"

* * *

And there goes this chapter! Whoo-hoo! And to those of you Breath of Fire fans, can you guess what dragon form Ryu took? I'll give you a hint other than the obvious stated in the chapter; you have to use three of the five elemental dragon genes to get it! Also, from now on, the elemental dragon forms will be used, along with the Eldritch gene, so they're like "one" form that Ryu can use. That means he'll still be able to use Vitalize and such. Kind of makes sense as I want him to still be a healer. Anyway, leave a review and all that jazz! Thanks again for the patience, faves, follows and comments. All appreciated! :D


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